In their new opinion piece published in The Well News, C4IP Co-Chairs and former USPTO Directors Andrei Iancu and David Kappos debunk the notion of a patent quality crisis in the United States, citing a recent study that underscores the strength of our patent system.
According to Iancu and Kappos, the study found that the USPTO’s “world-class” performance is on par with its international counterparts in the European Union, South Korea, and Japan.
They explain that, if anything, the USPTO would benefit from stronger patent protections so that fewer high-quality patents are thrown out. Per the study, the USPTO is more than twice as likely to reject a valid patent claim than it is to approve an invalid one — resulting in thousands of high-quality inventions being denied patents every year.
“The United States stacks up well against our peers when it comes to keeping out ‘bad patents.’ But to succeed in the battle for 21st century technological supremacy, we’ll also need to ensure that we do not keep out good patents. The incoming administration and USPTO leadership can achieve this by strengthening patent protections and rejecting false narratives about the prevalence of low-quality patents.”
Read the full op-ed here:
https://www.thewellnews.com/opinions/a-reality-check-for-patent-quality-critics/