I can save the world with my invention...
... but wait, thanks to the US patent system i can get stinking rich instead! Yay for me!!!
Ok, so this is a hippy view, but seriously its just business and money with you yanks isn't it.
The US Patent and Trademark Office said Monday that it's launching a test program that will greatly speed the review of "green" technology patents. The new fast-track pilot program is expected to shave a full year off the patent review process, which takes an average of 40 months to reach a final decision, according to the …
Lawyers and patent trolls.
That is just what you really need when implementing green technologies in a panic to avert the ecocatastrophe that is allegedly headed our way.
No doubt we will all die of thirst/drowning/hunger/war with spider monkeys because somebody will come up with planet saving tech only to be destroyed in the courts by some patent troll with a loosely worded patent who is wanting to win the lottery.
Good going USA! You're at the bleeding edge of idiocy, as always.
Just as well the whole ACG panic is a crock of shite, eh?
Oh, great -- that's _sure_ to improve quality of the patents coming out of a USPTO that's already pretty disconnected from reality. Can I be the first to patent my very own energy-saving device:
"Energy is delivered by a manually controlled electrical power circuit (1) for supplying power to an electrical load (3) requiring electrical power from an electrical outlet comprising an insulating lever (4) which can be actuated by one of several most distal parts of a limb, including but not limited to fingers and toes, present in humans and other vertebrates. The motion of the lever (4) produces positive action to close contacts (2) and to apply power to the load. Arbitrarily large energy savings can be realized by moving lever (4) in the opposite direction, opening contacts (2) and removing power from the load."
"it isn't expected to create delays to the rest of the backlog. ....will not hire any additional reviewers to handle the green patent fast-track program."
Has the patent process been fundamentally changed for green patents? If not, then the above does not compute. These changes will make the patent system worse for all other patents.
The most effective way to improve the USPTO would be to either dismantle it, or have it hire people who actually understand computer technology. Just by disallowing software (discovered, not invented, and mathematics to boot) they could probably speed up the rest of the system by several months. If they actually required a working model of the patent topic they could probably cull another 50% of the totally useless, waste of space patents they are granting.
The USPTO has become a money-churner for one crowd: patent lawyers. Nothing else. It does nothing to protect the inventor, it does nothing to encourage innovation anymore, it's just there to make money for patent lawyers.