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USPTO Encourages Third Parties to Participate
in Review of Pending Patent Applications |
This story was retrieved from the USPTO website. Neither the USPTO nor any other entity represented
in the article endorses this website.
September 20, 2012
Press Release, 12-60
-- Crowdsourcing Initiative with Stack Exchange Enables
Experts to Introduce Prior Art and
Improve Quality
of Examination Process
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Commerce’s
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) encourages subject-matter experts to take advantage of a new rule
implemented under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) that—for the first time in the history of U.S. patent
law—allows third parties to submit relevant materials to patent examiners in any given examination. Submission of
proposed prior art helps examiners determine whether the innovation in the application is patentable. The new provision,
35 U.S.C. 122(e), was implemented by the USPTO on Sunday, Sept. 16, and applies to any pending application.
Today, efforts are already underway in the private sector to crowdsource the identification of prior art. One
such initiative, utilizing input from the USPTO, is a newly launched social network known as
Ask Patents
by Stack Exchange, in which subject-matter experts volunteer to suggest prior art for given applications, as well
as to offer their input on the proposed value of those suggestions from others.
“By introducing third party
input into the examination process for the first time since the inception of our nation’s intellectual property system,
we’re able to expand the scope of access to prior art in key areas like software patents. This will improve the examination
process and advance the Administration’s ongoing commitment to transparency and open government,” said Under Secretary
of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos. “We encourage our nation’s innovators
to follow Stack Exchange’s example and assist us as we improve the examination process and resulting patent quality
that will drive our economy and create jobs and exports.”
The submission by third parties of prior art—the
library of published patents, applications, or other publications in a specific technology area—allows the USPTO to
tap directly into the U.S. innovation community. Submissions provide a fuller, more exhaustive scope of materials
for examiners to review in determining the novelty of a given application. This new mechanism will help ensure that
truly novel, useful, and non-obvious innovations obtain the intellectual property protection they deserve.
Stay current with the USPTO by subscribing to receive email updates. Visit our Subscription Center at
www.uspto.gov/subscribe.
Posted 9/24/2012
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