Slow Uptake for Green Tech Patent Fast Track

(National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

Martin LaMonica reports today in CNet that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) accelerated review program for green technology patent applications has not had the anticipated overwhelming response.

In December 2009, USPTO announced it would bump up to the front of the queue for appraisal patent petitions for environmental technologies. Under the accelerated review, applicants could expect a reduction of about a year in the time to patent new technologies. The current backlog is about three years.

USPTO hoped that faster patent action would encourage more applications for environmental technologies, resulting in more innovation and business activity in that sector. As of mid-August, USPTO received 1,460 petitions, with about half of those petitions either granted (702) or awaiting decision (53). USPTO had originally capped the number of accelerated reviews at 3,000 in anticipation of a rush of applications.

About a third (34%) of the received petitions were in chemical or materials engineering, with about a quarter (24%) for semiconductors or electrical components, and almost as many (22%) for mechanical engineering or manufacturing.