The Hill News

Today, there are more than 700,000 unexamined patent applications log-jammed at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Many of them represent inventions that will come to market a! nd launch new businesses and create new, high-paying jobs.

 

But without a patent, securing the funds needed to get a business or innovation off the ground is nearly impossible, for both small and large inventors alike.

 

Patent reform legislation the Senate is considerin! g this w eek can change that.

 

And it can build on the progress USPTO Director David Kappos has already made in reducing the time it takes to process the average patent â€" currently nearly 3 years.

 

New programs have ! been introduced to fast-track promising technologies, reforms have been made to help examiners more quickly process applications, and the Patent Office recently announced a plan to give inventors more control over when their patent is examined. 

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