US patent office expedites green technology applications
December 9, 2009
Press release posted Dec. 14, 2009, at 3:52 p.m. CST
The U.S. Commerce Department's Patent and Trademark Office will pilot a program to accelerate the examination of certain "green" technology patent applications, Secretary Gary Locke announced on Dec. 7. The new initiative will accelerate the development and deployment of green technology, create green jobs, and promote U.S. competitiveness in this vital sector.
"American competitiveness depends on innovation and innovation depends on creative Americans developing new technology," U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. "By ensuring that many new products will receive patent protection more quickly, we can encourage our brightest innovators to invest needed resources in developing new technologies and help bring those technologies to market more quickly."
"Every day an important green tech innovation is hindered from coming to market is another day we harm our planet and another day lost in creating green businesses and green jobs," Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos said. "Applications in this pilot program will see a significant savings in pendency, which will help bring green innovations to market more quickly."
Pending patent applications in green technologies will be eligible to be accorded special status and given expedited examination, which will have the effect of reducing the time it takes to patent these technologies by an average of one year. Earlier patenting of these technologies enables inventors to secure funding, create businesses, and bring vital green technologies into use much sooner.
Patent applications are normally taken up for examination in the order that they are filed. The average pendency time for applications in green technology areas is approximately 30 months to a first office action and 40 months to a final decision. Under the pilot program, for the first 3,000 applications related to green technologies in which a proper petition is filed, the agency will examine the applications on an accelerated basis.
Additional details on the USPTO pilot program will be available in the Federal Register: http://www.uspto.gov/patents/law/notices/2009.jsp.and via the USPTO's website: http://www.uspto.gov.
If successful, the USPTO will examine ways to continue and expand the initiative.
SOURCE: U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
The U.S. Commerce Department's Patent and Trademark Office will pilot a program to accelerate the examination of certain "green" technology patent applications, Secretary Gary Locke announced on Dec. 7. The new initiative will accelerate the development and deployment of green technology, create green jobs, and promote U.S. competitiveness in this vital sector.
"American competitiveness depends on innovation and innovation depends on creative Americans developing new technology," U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. "By ensuring that many new products will receive patent protection more quickly, we can encourage our brightest innovators to invest needed resources in developing new technologies and help bring those technologies to market more quickly."
"Every day an important green tech innovation is hindered from coming to market is another day we harm our planet and another day lost in creating green businesses and green jobs," Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos said. "Applications in this pilot program will see a significant savings in pendency, which will help bring green innovations to market more quickly."
Pending patent applications in green technologies will be eligible to be accorded special status and given expedited examination, which will have the effect of reducing the time it takes to patent these technologies by an average of one year. Earlier patenting of these technologies enables inventors to secure funding, create businesses, and bring vital green technologies into use much sooner.
Patent applications are normally taken up for examination in the order that they are filed. The average pendency time for applications in green technology areas is approximately 30 months to a first office action and 40 months to a final decision. Under the pilot program, for the first 3,000 applications related to green technologies in which a proper petition is filed, the agency will examine the applications on an accelerated basis.
Additional details on the USPTO pilot program will be available in the Federal Register: http://www.uspto.gov/patents/law/notices/2009.jsp.and via the USPTO's website: http://www.uspto.gov.
If successful, the USPTO will examine ways to continue and expand the initiative.
SOURCE: U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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