Strategy Session

Jun 18 2007 12:00AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (1) |
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What do you think of the idea that your peers would examine your patent application as part of the patent approval process?

If you are a software developer and submitting a patent to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), that could happen. On June 15 the patent office began a pilot project for open reviews of software patents.

The Peer Review Pilot  is a joint initiative with the Community Patent Review Project (CRRP), organized by the New York Law School’s Institute for Information and Policy. The pilot program only includes patent applications in information technology, and patent applicants need to give their approval.

The pilot project could help expedite and improve the examination process in computer technologies, according to the USPTO. The patents in the pilot project will be posted on a website, and technical experts who have registered with the CPRP will review and submit information for up to 250 published patent applications. The pilot, the USPTO says, is one facet of its broader efforts to find new ways to get the best information in front of examiners before they make a final decision on a patent application.

While legislative changes would be needed for public peer reviews without an applicant’s okay and to extend it to other fields, how do you feel about the possibility that your peers one day could evaluate your patent application?