The United States Patent and Trademark Office has commenced a pilot program for accelerated examination of patent applications related to green technologies.  This pilot program became effective on December 8, 2009, and will run for twelve months or until 3,000 applications are submitted for petitions to make special.  The USPTO then will have the option to renew the program or cancel it. It is the goal of the USPTO for application pendency for any valid petition to make special under this pilot program to be reduced by at least a year.  The USPTO has stated that the average current pendency for such patents is approximately thirty months to receive a first office action and approximately forty months to receive a final decision.  The overarching purpose of this program is to “accelerate the development and deployment of green technology, create green jobs, and promote U.S. competitiveness in this vital sector.”

Petitions to make special, under this program, may only be submitted for previously filed patent applications which have not received a first office action as of the date of the filing of a petition.  A petition to make special must be filed no later than December 8, 2010, one year after the commencement of this program.  Petitions to make special must be electronically filed and must state that special status is sought because the invention materially enhances the quality of the environment by contributing to the restoration or maintenance of the basic life-sustaining natural elements.

For a patent application to qualify for the green technology petition to make special, it “must be a non-reissue, non-provisional utility application … or an international application that has entered the national stage.”  A patent application must have been filed before December 8, 2009 if the applicant wishes to participate in this program.  Such patent applications cannot contain more than three independent claims and twenty total claims.  The applications cannot contain any multiple dependent claims.  The claims in an application must be drawn to only one invention.

The invention in such a patent application must materially contribute to: (1) the discovery or development of renewable energy resources; (2) the more efficient utilization and conservation of energy resources; or (3) the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.  Renewable energy resources include the following: hydroelectric, solar, wind, renewable biomass, landfill gas, ocean, geothermal and municipal solid waste.  The second category above relates to inventions for the reduction of energy consumption in combustion systems, industrial equipment and household appliances.  The third category relates to advances in nuclear power generation technology or fossil fuel power generation, or industrial processes with greenhouse gas abatement technology.

For more information please see:

U.S. Commerce Department’s Patent and Trademark Office to Accelerate Review of Green Technology Patents to Speed Deployment to Marketplace at http://www.uspto.gov/news/pr/2009/09_33.jsp

Pilot Program for Green Technologies Including Greenhouse Gas Reduction, 74 Fed. Reg. 64666 at http://www.uspto.gov/patents/law/notices/74fr64666.pdf

Laurie Young                (612) 392-7309           Laurie.Young@nm-iplaw.com