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Fast-Track for “Green” Technology Applications
Several patent offices have now introduced a fast-track prosecution and grant procedure for applications in the area of “Green” Technology.
One of the traditional bugbears of the patent system is the length of time it takes for a patent to be granted. Applicants are often unable to fully exploit their technology until a patent has been granted. In most jurisdictions, it can take several years for a patent to proceed to grant. However, Applicants in the area of green technology are seeing the pendency period of their applications reduce dramatically in several jurisdictions. In some cases, patents are being granted in under a year and there are reports of some instances of patents being granted in a matter of months.
In May 2009, the UKIPO introduced a Green Channel for patent applications with the goal of reducing the application pendency period to under a year for inventions with an environmental benefit. The UKIPO have applied a broad definition to what constitutes an “environmental benefit”. In order for an application to be fast-tracked, the applicant must request accelerated examination.
In December 2009, the USPTO introduced its Green Technology Pilot Program for limited areas of technology and in May 2010, the USPTO widened the scope of technologies that would qualify for the program. The USPTO will accept the first 3,000 applications that qualify for the pilot program. Similar to the procedure in the United Kingdom, in order to be admitted into the Green Technology Pilot Program, the applicant must request accelerated prosecution of their application.
Similar schemes have already been launched in Australia and South Korea and a number of other jurisdictions have expressed an interest in such schemes.