I agree that changing the incentive structure would help, but I don't think targeting individual examiners is the best way to do it. I think the right target is the patent office itself.
The only thing you've listed above that would change the patent office's incentives are the increased issue fees - which would only encourage them to let more bad patents through. Yes, individual examiners would push back because of their personal liability, but they're really trapped between a rock (their boss) and a hard place (getting sued in the future).
On the other hand, if you made the patent office the target of all the penalties for issuing a bad patent (legal fees, damages, etc.) then they'd take care of examiners themselves (not measuring by patent-processing rate, allowing additional time for aggressive prior art searches and so on).
Sure, sure. (Guess I missed the forest for the trees and all that...)
But in either case, first the patent granting authority needs to be held grossly liable to prevent this rampant abuse, then and only then will subsequent measures be effective.
However, targeting the examiners focuses on the personal responsibilty for their actions. If you institutionalize that responsibility (patent office vs patent examiner) you create a situation where the perpetrator (examiner/boss) hides behind the collective back of the patent office and the taxpayers are again left holding the bag of liability.
A person or a discrete group of persons approved the granting of this right to the applicant (or the denial of freedom to non-applicants). Why should they be absolved of their individual responsibility, for their individual actions?
The only thing you've listed above that would change the patent office's incentives are the increased issue fees - which would only encourage them to let more bad patents through. Yes, individual examiners would push back because of their personal liability, but they're really trapped between a rock (their boss) and a hard place (getting sued in the future).
On the other hand, if you made the patent office the target of all the penalties for issuing a bad patent (legal fees, damages, etc.) then they'd take care of examiners themselves (not measuring by patent-processing rate, allowing additional time for aggressive prior art searches and so on).