Experts in intellectual property are proposing to use online social networking networks like Facebook to eradicate the enormous backlog of patent applications in the USA.
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) alone has several hundred thousand outstanding patent applications each year, and the number is still growing.
Delays in processing applications can slow the development of new technology as companies wait to see whether their applications have been granted before proceeding with expensive research.
Patently sensible
Frank Peo from the Center for Technology Assessment in Pennsylvania is suggesting that the process could be vastly accelerated if social networks were used to fast-track the rejection of patents that failed to meet criteria for originality.
Peo's pilot project, called Peer-to-Patent, uses social networking software to allow groups of volunteer review experts to upload references, participate in discussion forums, rate other user submissions and add research references to pending applications.
The aim is to allow the actual patent examiners to focus on reviewing the most relevant aspects of any particular submission and so streamline the overall application process.
Good news for UK PLC too: similar approaches are now being investigated by the UK Intellectual Property Office and the European Patent Office.
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mwebbink
February 24th
1. This article contains a number of factual errors that are inconsistent with the information provided by Mr. Peo and his co-authors. Peer-to-Patent is not Mr. Peo's project; it is a project he is referencing. Peer-to-Patent is a project of the Center for Patent Innovations at New York Law School and is the brainchild of NYLS Law Prof. Beth Noveck. What Mr. Peo and his co-authors focus on in their paper is how this peer review concept could be extended further to actually reduce the patent office backlog.
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