The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is requesting public comment on how they can accelerate and incentivize the commercialization of innovative technologies.¹ Public comments can be submitted via this link by May 14, 2024.

To facilitate input, the USPTO has provided a list of questions that may be addressed in the public comments, including suggestions for how they can help innovators with commercialization through the use of the U.S. intellectual property system. These questions are not limiting, and the public may provide feedback in addition to, or instead of, responding to the particular questions.

Innovative companies are encouraged to evaluate their experiences with the U.S. IP system and provide the USPTO with useful feedback, considering any challenges and opportunities that may assist with strengthening their own U.S. patent portfolios and, more broadly, the ability of their respective industries to innovate and commercialize. For guidance on U.S. patent strategy and comment submissions, please contact any member of Wilson Sonsini’s patents and innovations department.

Questions prepared by the USPTO to facilitate comment submissions:

1. Please identify the biggest challenges to, and opportunities for, commercialization of innovation through use of the intellectual property system. Please identify what concrete measures the USPTO can take to help.

2. Are there any IP-related challenges or opportunities that are specific to commercializing green technology and climate technologies? Please identify what concrete measures the USPTO can take to help.

3. Are there any IP-related challenges or opportunities that are specific to commercializing critical and emerging technologies? Please identify what concrete measures the USPTO can take to help.

4. Please identify any changes to IP policies and practices that may help streamline or accelerate commercialization of IP in general.

5. Please identify any changes to IP policies and practices that may help streamline or accelerate commercialization of green technology and climate technologies.

6. Please identify any changes to IP policies and practices that may help streamline or accelerate commercialization of critical and emerging technologies.

7. Please identify any IP-related challenges that interested parties face when licensing or acquiring technologies and identify any changes in the law, policies, or practices which could help alleviate these challenges.

8. Please identify challenges that interested parties face when attempting to identify potential licensees, and when licensing intellectual property. Please identify any changes in the law, policies, or practices that could help alleviate these challenges.

9. Please provide any feedback on the USPTO's Patents 4 Partnerships platform, including any experience with the same, whether it should be expanded to include patents across all sectors, and any comments on how it can otherwise be improved. Please also identify what additional, concrete measures the USPTO can take to better facilitate connections between innovators and funders.

10. Please provide any feedback on the WIPO GREEN  initiative, including any experience with the same and any comments on how the USPTO may better leverage its role as a partner to enhance the success and influence of the initiative.

11. Please identify opportunities for the USPTO to minimize any current challenges related to commercialization for certain persons, technologies, industries, or companies. If available, please provide supporting data that illustrates the impact of these challenges on those select groups.

12. Please identify opportunities for the USPTO to help underrepresented groups, individual inventors, and small and medium-sized enterprises to gain enhanced awareness of and access to resources for commercializing their innovations and suggest ways to overcome existing challenges that undermine the realization of this goal.

13. Please identify opportunities for the USPTO to expand research commercialization opportunities through IP rights for MSIs, and HBCUs, including any data or information related to the development of research commercialization at these institutions.

14. Please identify any role that the USPTO can play in incentivizing innovations in commercially viable technologies.

15. Are there any laws or practices in other countries that are effective in bringing IP to market? If so, please identify, explain, and indicate how they can be adapted to be applied within the framework of the U.S. patent law, or explain what new legislation would be needed.

[1] https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-03-15/pdf/2024-05504.pdf.