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Joint Strategic Plan on Intellectual Property Enforcement SECTION 4 Training Program (PETTP) and other initiatives; (2) providing inter-agency leadership and technical expertise on emerging technology initiatives; and (3) facilitating discussions with stakeholders on the impact of emerging technologies on the patent system. The USPTO is closely monitoring the intellectual property implications of technologies such as additive or “3D” printing, the “Internet of Things,” and blockchain. The goal is to carefully monitor the impacts of recent changes to the U.S. patent system, coupled with the continued collection and review of empirical data, to assess policy options that balance the important needs of patent holders with the goal of reducing truly frivolous litigation. ACTION NO. 4.7: Continue implementation of the Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative. USPTO will continue implementation of its Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative and seek input from stakeholders on ways to further improve correctness, clarity and consistency of patent examination. USPTO will use stakeholder input, as well as data collected and lessons learned from implementation of the initiative, to promote continuous process improvement. ACTION NO. 4.8: Promote continued collaboration between rights holders and the USPTO to benchmark post grant proceedings. Benchmarking post grant proceedings under the AIA will help stakeholders understand the changing landscape of patent litigation and how patents are being challenged and evaluated. USPTO will continue investing in a data driven strategy when evaluating the effectiveness of the new post grant proceedings and reforms to the PTAB. ACTION NO. 4.9: Promote continued training and dialogue regarding emerging technologies on the patent system. USPTO, with assistance from stakeholders, will continue to deliver expert technical training on emerging technologies to patent examiners. The USPTO will also continue to lead and provide technical expertise on inter-agency initiatives related to emerging technology and create new avenues for dialogue with stakeholders on the impact of emerging technologies on the patent system. ACTION NO. 4.10: Provide expert technical assistance to Congress on any necessary patent reform efforts. USPTO, in coordination with the White House and other Executive Branch agencies, will continue to provide expert technical assistance to Congress in support of patent reform efforts, with the goal of promoting targeted, balanced improvements, as necessary, that curtail abusive patent litigation practices while maintaining robust patent enforcement. 2. Enhancing Domestic Design Protection. Balanced policies that support strong industrial design rights and reward ornamental innovation and entrepreneurship are key to an effective design patent system, and contribute to a strong economy. Over the past years, new and emerging industrial designs have gained prominence in the commercial market. Graphical user interfaces (GUIs), icons, transitional images, and animated images embodied in articles of manufacture are routinely the first level of user interaction that drive purchases and success of many consumer products today. The USPTO, with assistance from stakeholders, is reviewing legal frameworks and office practices to meet user needs to protect designs embodied in these and other emerging technologies and to identify where legal frameworks and office practices could be enhanced. Technical advances, such as the growing prevalence of 3D printing, electronic transmissions and virtual reality, also impact the enforcement of design rights. It remains uncertain how some designers can rely on the current industrial design legal framework to effectively enforce their rights in light of these emerging technical means for infringement. The USPTO recognizes these impending challenges and consults with the public to identify legal and procedural gaps that may require action by courts, Congress, the USPTO or others. USPTO’s Enhanced Patent Quality Initiative includes a program designed to enhance domestic design protection. The Design Patent Publication Quality program seeks to improve the quality of drawings in published design patents. Degradation of finally printed patent grant images, relative to their incoming patent application images, is significant in design patents especially because the drawings define the claimed invention. 136
Office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator ACTION NO. 4.11: Monitor the use of the design patent system to protect designs embodied in or applied to technologies. USPTO will continue to consult with designers and other stakeholders and monitor the current legal framework as it pertains to protecting designs embodied in new and emerging technologies. 3. Enhancing the Effectiveness of Patent Systems Abroad. As U.S. companies continue to expand into foreign markets, it is important for the U.S. to promote strong and effective patent protection and enforcement worldwide, reflecting the importance of patents to innovation and economic growth. A wide range of tools should be used to identify opportunities and challenges facing U.S. innovative industries in foreign markets. Some examples include: a. Reducing Patent Pendency. Patentees face a number of challenges around the world, including significant time lapses between the filing of patent applications and the issuance of patents (the “patent pendency” period). Long patent pendency periods can substantially curtail the effective term of the patent, diminishing its value and effectiveness as an incentive for innovation and investment. Long patent pendency periods reduce incentives for investment in research and development efforts, hinder innovation, and hamper job growth prospects. 37 Shortening the patent pendency period can assist the patent holder to timely commercialize or otherwise obtain value from the exclusive right for the technology, thereby increasing the value of the patent. Also, shortening the patent pendency period reduces uncertainty for third parties, including the public, regarding the scope and enforceability of any patent that may eventually issue. While many of the underlying problems leading to long pendency periods in some countries can only be corrected by that country’s government (e.g., by adequately funding the patent office to permit needed hiring of patent examiners and to upgrade facilities and processing systems), opportunities exist to improve patent examination efficiency through streamlining of the international patent system. The international patent system, as it currently stands, includes considerable redundancy. Because patent rights are territorial, innovators must obtain patents separately in each country where they want the invention protected. This means that the innovator must file separate, substantially identical patent applications in each country, and those countries’ patent offices must then separately examine those same applications. Government policies must support efficient patent systems around the world that benefit domestic and foreign innovators and contribute to economic growth. For example, improved operations of patent offices, including such actions as the digitization of records, upgrading online search and e-filing capabilities, and hiring adequate patent examiners remain attractive opportunities for enhancing patent systems. The USPTO has been meeting since 2007 with its counterparts from Europe, Japan, Korea and China (known as the “IP 5”) to explore approaches for enhancing cooperation on patent administration issues. According to WIPO statistics, the IP5 offices receive almost 80 percent of all patent applications filed worldwide, and as a result, improved practices and systems among the “IP 5” may lend themselves to global adoption. 38 To streamline the patent system and avoid duplication of examining efforts, the USPTO and several other offices around the world are engaged in “work sharing” cooperation. The idea behind work sharing is that one patent office can reuse the work another patent office has already done in examining the same application to speed up its own examination. The USPTO’s primary work sharing vehicle is the “Patent Prosecution Highway” (PPH). Under the PPH, when an applicant receives a ruling from a first participating patent office that at least one claim in the application it examined is allowable, the applicant may request fast track examination of corresponding claim(s) in a corresponding patent application that is pending in a second participating patent office. The USPTO currently has PPH partnerships in place with thirty-one other patent offices around the world. PPH provides a promising solution to long patent pendency time periods, and expansion and enhancement of the program will strengthen patent systems globally. SECTION 4 137
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U.S. JOINT STRATEGIC PLAN ON INTELL
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B. In Furtherance of a Healthy Doma
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PREAMBLE A Reflection on Creativity
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INTRODUCTION IP-intensive industrie
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1 THE GLOBAL SCALE OF INTELLECTUAL
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INTRODUCTION The story of intellect
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SECTION 2 CONTENTS HELPING TO PROMO
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