USPTO Announces Extension of Green Technology Pilot Program to December 2011

The United States Patent & Trademark Office (“USPTO”) will extend a pilot program to encourage innovation and stimulate investment in green technologies. In a press release issued late last week, the USPTO announced that its Green Technology Pilot Program will be extended to December 31, 2011. The USPTO also announced an extension of the program to cover applications filed on or after December 8, 2009. Petitions seeking expedited examination of new green technology patent applications may also now be filed simultaneously with the patent application.

The USPTO first began implementing the Green Technology Pilot Program in December 2009.  Under this program, an applicant may have an application accorded special status and therefore advanced out of turn for expedited examination where the application pertains to environmental quality, energy conservation, development of renewable energy resources or greenhouse gas emission reduction.  These applications will be accorded special status without meeting all of the current onerous requirements of the USPTO’s regular accelerated examination program (such as the lengthy examination support document). In order to be eligible for the Green Technology Pilot Program, petitions must state how the application relates to (1) the development of a renewable energy source or energy conservation or (2) the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

The USPTO has already revised the program to expand the types of technology covered.  Originally, the Green Technology Pilot Program was limited to applications within a select number of U.S. classifications. The USPTO removed that requirement in May 2010 by allowing more inventions related to green technologies to be accorded special status and receive expedited examination.

The program was also originally limited to applications filed on or before December 8, 2009. That requirement has now been also been lifted, allowing applicants for more recently-filed applications to petition for expedited examination.

Last week’s press release extends the deadline for filing petitions under the Green Technology Pilot Program by more than one year. Originally, the program was set to expire on December 8, 2010. One reason for the extension is that only 1,595 petitions have been filed, out of an originally-set limit of 3,000. According to USPTO statistics, as of November 2, 2010, only 790 petitions for expedited examination have been granted for green technology patent applications. And since the program began, only 94 patents have been issued.

Despite the apparently small numbers of petitions granted and patents issued, the USPTO notes that the program does dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes to receive a first office action. The press release states that the average time between the approval of a green technology petition and the first action on an application is just 49 days. This is indeed much faster than the average time indicated on the USPTO’s “dashboard” Data Visualization Center for a first action for applications that are not accorded expedited examination – which is 25.4 months.