By
Sarah Fendrick --
On
May 17, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced in a press release it would
be expanding the "Project Exchange" program to all applicants. The program enables an applicant with
multiple pending applications, filed prior to the inception of the program, to
receive expedited review of one application in exchange for withdrawing an
unexamined application. The goal
of the program is provide applicants greater control over the order in which
their applications are examined as well as to reduce the backlog at the Patent Office.
The expanded Project Exchange will be
limited to 15 applications per entity through December 31, 2010. To participate in the exchange program,
applicants must submit the required materials prior to December 31, 2010.
I suppose they didn't have much choice other than to extend this program to large companies, since the patent application backlog has reached critical mass. But won't the big corporations be able to game the system by paying for initial BS applications and then withdrawing them, just to speed approval of their "real" patents? Has the USPTO come up with any safeguards to prevent this kind of thing, or will we just have to deal with it?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/25/patent-reform-misses-the-mark/
Posted by: Gena777 | May 31, 2010 at 03:02 PM