Patent FAQ: How Can Technology Entrepreneurs Avoid USPTO Backlog Using Accelerated Examination?

Sadly, inventors and entrepreneurs are faced with a big hurdle when it comes to forming intellectual property rights needed to support technology based startup firms. According to information from the US Patent Office (USPTO), the present backlog of patent applications is more than 1,200,000 with more than 700,000 not getting received a first Workplace Action, meaning your application is still in the pile. The total time to get a patent is reported by USPTO to average 34 months (i.e. pendency). But, this quantity is an typical that does not reflect the longer pendency ordinarily experienced by emerging technologies exactly where the number of applications is rapidly growing. If you are CEO of a provider in a high-growth tech sector and program to introduce new products based on the invention within 1 to two years, the prospect of a patent becoming issued four or five years right after filing is virtually irrelevant unless you are attempting to raise capital.

The 2008 Berkeley Patent Survey, a national study of patents and entrepreneurship, reported that 75% of the executives at venture capital-backed startups look at patents to be an critical factor in their financing choices. Investors are very conscious that much less than half of the applications filed result in an issued patent. An indeterminate outcome for 4 or five years can represent a major road block to venture funding. In quickly emerging technologies sectors getting a patent in hand may make the distinction in obtaining funded or not.

What to do. Accelerated patent examination, obtainable through the US Patent and Trademark Workplace, can be an superb resolution if prosecuted appropriately. It provides an chance to secure patent protection, usually in significantly much less time as the normal approach. Till now, there was substantial uncertainty concerning meeting rather stringent requirements to qualify. You would not know going in if accelerated examination would be approved, even even though important expense had been incurred attempting to comply with USPTO requirements.

The USPTO is now moving forward with implementation of Track 1 of a new three track patent processing plan that will guarantee accelerated examination. Track 1 of this plan will enable the applicant to pay a greater fee and receive more quickly examination. The fee is set at $4,000, but the USPTO might possibly get Congressional approval to permit for a 50% discount for small entities. The patent application have to be an original utility or plant patent application. The quantity of independent claims is limited to 4, with 30 total claims. The application can only be filed by way of the USPTO's electronic filing system. The application will obtain unique status throughout its entire course of prosecution. The aim is to get final disposition within 12 months. That does not mean you are guaranteed a patent, but you will have an answer sooner rather than later. If you need to have a patent to assistance raising venture capital, then the new Track 1 process may be the suitable option. But act rapid. Only ten,000 applications will receive Track 1 processing the initial year.