Green Sunset?: A USPTO Green Patent Fast Track Update
April 18th, 2011 by 
In previous posts (most recently here), I’ve written about the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) green technology pilot program to expedite examination of green patent applications.
The latest USPTO green technology pilot program statistical report (green_report_summary) indicates that there have now been more than 3,000 petitions filed, so the program is getting fairly close to maxed out.
However, the number of filed petitions is not dispositive; the program is scheduled to end when 3,000 petitions are accepted into the program, or at the end of this year, whichever comes first.
There are currently about 1,300 petitions that are still pending, including about 1,000 that have been dismissed (i.e., initially turned away but could be appealed), and about 300 awaiting initial decision.
So the number of remaining slots for the program depends on how these 1,300 or so pending petitions break for acceptance or final denial.
Over the nearly year and a half period the program has been running, 1,595 petitions have been granted, 195 petitions have been finally denied, and 250 patents granted in the program.
It’s hard to say exactly how much time applicants have left to file their fast track petitions, but unless the
USPTO extends the program again or makes it permanent, the window may close fairly soon.
Eric Lane is a patent attorney at Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps in San Diego and the author of Green Patent Blog. Mr. Lane can be reached at elane@luce.com.
photo: Steve Snodgrass.
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