USPTO to Expand Initiatives for Under-Resourced Inventors and First-Time Filers
“Vidal noted that approximately 13% of named inventors on U.S. patents are women, but 41% of Patent Pro Bono Program applicants who responded to a survey in 2021 identified as women.”
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Kathi Vidal penned a blog post today announcing several new programs aimed at expanding the U.S. innovation ecosystem, which she said “could quadruple the number of American inventors, and increase the GDP per capita by as much as 4%, or by about $1 trillion.” The initiatives are being spearheaded by the USPTO’s Council for Inclusive Innovation (CI2), for which Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo serves as Chair and Vidal as Co-Chair.
In the introduction to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s strategic plan for fiscal years 2022 through 2026, announced in March of this year, Raimondo explained that the goal of the plan is to amplify traditional American strengths, including innovation, by introducing a roadmap for collaboration on American competitiveness, to which each of the Commerce Department’s 13 bureaus is expected to contribute. The USPTO will be the lead agency on Strategic Objective 1.5, which includes efforts to promote accessible, strong and effective IP rights to advance innovation and entrepreneurship and which has four strategic pillars: to improve equitable and affordable access to the IP system; to enhance patent quality and compact prosecution; to reduce trademark pendency and protect the integrity of the register; and to protect and enforce IP abroad.
Vidal’s post announced several initiatives seemingly aimed at addressing the first pillar, including a new fast-track program for first-time filers that would expedite examination and provide an early indication of patentability for “first-time micro entity filers.” According to Vidal, the Office “receives approximately 40,000 patent applications per year that name at least one inventor who is a first-time filer.” While a Federal Register notice will be published in the early fall with more info, Vidal said training will be a prerequisite to participation. This is the latest of several expedited examination programs that have been introduced over the last several years.
The USPTO will also be expanding its Law School Clinic Certification Program, which presently includes over 60 participating law schools. The new additions will be: George Mason University, Case Western University, Wake Forest University, and Brigham Young University. The Office will also expand its support of regional patent pro bono programs by providing more funding for its 21 regional Patent Pro Bono Programs. Vidal noted that approximately 13% of named inventors on U.S. patents are women, but 41% of Patent Pro Bono Program applicants who responded to a survey in 2021 identified as women, while 30% identified as African American, 14% as Hispanic, 5.6% as Asian American or Pacific Islander and 1.5% as Native American.
Finally, the Office will pilot a volunteer program later this year that will employ its workforce across the country to educate local communities on the importance of intellectual property.
Congress has also been interested in ways to expand access to innovation, beginning with passage of the SUCCESS Act of 2018, which resulted in the USPTO statistics showing that the women inventor rate has yet to pass 13% . Last spring, Congress attempted to direct the USPTO to collect more demographic data on women and minority inventors via the Inventor Diversity for Economic Advancement (IDEA) Act, but that bill has stalled in committee since last April.
Image Source: Deposit Photos
Author: iqoncept
Image ID: 240613660
Eileen McDermott
Eileen McDermott is the Editor-in-Chief of IPWatchdog.com. Eileen is a veteran IP and legal journalist, and no stranger to the intellectual property world, having held editorial and managerial positions at […see more]
