US Patent and Trademark Office accelerates green tech patent approval
Currently, it takes 30 months for a patent application to reach a “first office action”. It takes 40 months for it to be approved. That is almost three and a half years before new green technologies can go into production and easily causes new ventures the loss of investors. That’s why the US Patent and Trademark Office(USPTO) has decided to accelerate the processing of selected green technology patents.
The USPTO will accelerate the process with currently pending green technology applications in a pilot program to evaluate how well it will work. With the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference currently underway, this is the perfect time for the USPTO initiative.
“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.”
Expedited green tech patent applications should reduce the patent process by about one year. That being said, it will still be over two years from the time a proper application is filed to final patent approval. That is still a long time to wait in today’s rapidly changing green tech climate.
So many innovations are occurring that the technology in the pipeline may wind up being outdated before it is viable for market, or at least, may seem so. Paper batteries, liquid batteries, new engine technologies must all wait until they wind through the patent/trademark process before becoming usable technology.
Still inventors should have an easier time getting funding, businesses started, and getting their products to market.
Just remember, the innovations you read about here won’t hit the market for at least three to four years depending on how long it takes to file the patent application. Once approved, the technology will seem like old news.
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