Patent Law

USPTO Patent Allowance Rates Down to 54%

By William F. Heinze

• USPTO Patent Allowance Rates Are Down to 54% in 2007
• USPTO Has Reiterated Its Support for Required Searching
• New USPTO Ethics Rules Are Expected Soon

"The most important single reform that can be made to facilitate foreign patenting by Americans is the implementation of patent ?worksharing? that would permit American procurement of foreign patents here at home," comments Professor Wegner. "The opposite approach is ?applicant quality submissions? with total examination at home." In his view,

The theoretical victory of TRIPS is the creation of a global patent regime
where Americans can obtain overseas patent protection: In various manufacturing industries, perhaps the only way that jobs can be kept at home and not suffer overseas price competition is through establishment of a strong foreign patent portfolio to kill competition at the source.

American manufacturing industries simply are not filing patent applications
in foreign countries. This is true not just in China and other emerging Asian states but even Japan, a first world market where patents should be obtained to block imports. Yet, the reality is that Americans are obtaining patents abroad in pitifully small numbers. In contrast to Japanese industry where just ten (10) companies obtain 15,000-plus American patents per year, all American-owned patents in Japan number just 6,000.

Full post as published by I/P Updates on March 18, 2008 (boomark / email).