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How Patent Owners Can Leverage Climate Change Programs In Their IP Strategies
Government agencies and private organizations alike are seeking new strategies to combat climate change — including offering programs and incentives to promote inventorship in the energy sector. These programs encourage innovation for both renewable energy technologies and technologies that can make conventional energy sources more sustainable. Among them, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has created or expanded several programs to promote the development of sustainable energy. For patent owners and inventors in the energy sector, these programs can provide a financial and administrative edge for the development and protection of their intellectual property, as well as play a beneficial role their overall IP strategy.
Just last summer, the USPTO launched the Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program (CCMPP) to promote the development of clean energy technologies by accelerating the examination process for eligible patent applications. The CCMPP applies to any innovations that are "designed to make progress toward achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions" by covering any claim for an invention that removes greenhouse gases, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, or monitors greenhouse gas emissions. See, 88 FR 35841 (June 1, 2023). To apply for the program, applicants need only file a petition to make special their application at the USPTO using the required form. See, "Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program," USPTO. After this form is submitted, the identified application is advanced out of turn so that a First Office Action is issued earlier than normal. Id. Unfortunately, after the First Office Action, the speed of examination returns to normal.
If an applicant wants the entire process to be expedited, the USPTO also has an award program called the Patents for Humanity Program which grants winners certificates that allow some ex parte proceedings to be expedited. See, "USPTO Patents for Humanity Program: Green Energy," USPTO. This program has existed since 2013, but only recently added a category for "green patents." Id. One aspect of this program to consider is that applications only open once about every two years and not everyone who applies is awarded a certificate. Id. In addition, a green patent must have already been applied for or granted. Id. The owner of the patent must then submit a description of how the technology in the patent positively affects the environment to apply. Id. While the certificate to expedite a proceeding can be used on a patent with any subject matter, the application process may not be worth it to companies who deal primarily in green energy as their applications are already being advanced out of turn anyways. Id.
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