USPTO Peer to Patent Program Expanded to Include Biotech Patent Applications

    By Sherri Oslick --

The U.S Patent and Trademark Office announced on Tuesday that it plans to expand the Peer to Patent pilot program to include applications in biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals, and bioinformatics, among other areas.  The Peer to Patent program previously was limited to software and business method applications.

Initiated in 2007 as a joint venture between the USPTO and New York Law School, the Peer to Patent pilot program was established to test the viability of a system in which the public would have the opportunity to submit and discuss the relevance of prior art documents for a given application to aid in the examination of that application.  Inventors could opt to participate in the program by submitting their application online at the Peer to Patent website.  After a period of time, the prior art would be sent to the USPTO for consideration while examining the application.

Based on the success of the initial pilot, which ran from 2007-2009, the USPTO, in concert with New York Law School's Center for Patent Innovations, will launch a new 1-year pilot, expanding upon the initial pilot and modifying certain parameters based on prior experience.  The pilot will commence on October 25, 2010 and will accept applications through September 30, 2011.

Applications falling under various classes/subclasses that would be examined by Group Art Units 1611, 1612, 1615, 1616, 1618, 1619, 1621, 1623, 1624, 1625, 1626, and 1631 are eligible to participate in the pilot, including applications within classes such as 435 (Chemistry: molecular biology and microbiology) and 532 (organic compounds).  A list of qualified classes/subclasses can be found here.

For additional information regarding the expanded Peer to Patent program, please see:
• USPTO press release
• New York Law School press release
• Peer to Patent announcement

Comments

[patent litigation]

It could be quite beneficial for patent examiners to receive prior art from this peer review program. My question, however, is whether they will actually review it. At least one recent study has indicated that patent examiners often disregard prior art submitted to them by applicants. If examiners similarly tend to ignore third-party prior art, I'm not certain how influential this program will ultimately be.
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