Intellectual Property Law

Green Patent Applications To Get Accelerated Examination at USPTO

By Brian Wm. Higgin

     Today the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced it will pilot a program to accelerate the examination of certain 'green' technology patent applications. Under the pilot program, patent applications meeting certain criteria will be accelerated in order to "further the development and deployment of green technology, create green jobs, and promote U.S. competitiveness," a USPTO press release said. 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, the USPTO said. The press release stated that earlier patenting of green technologies enables inventors to secure funding, create businesses, and bring vital green technologies into use much sooner. 

     Green technologies are defined as those patent applications pertaining to environmental quality, energy conservation, development of renewable energy resources, or greenhouse gas emission reduction.

     Under the pilot program, 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 USPTO will examine the applications on an accelerated basis (i.e., 12 months to a final decision).

     Critics have complained that green patents mean higher prices for these newest pollution-reducing technologies due to licensing fees sought by patentees, fees that effectively put the technology out of reach of companies and countries that can't pay the premiums.  The result is that companies and countries that need the most pollution abatement will look to older, less efficient technologies because they are less expensive than state of the art technologies being patented today.

     Federal Register Notice: 74 FR 64666

Full post as published by Maryland Intellectual Property Law Blog on December 08, 2009 (boomark / email).