Patent Office Formally Ends Program Expediting Climate Patents

The US Patent and Trademark Office terminated a 2022 program expediting patent applications for innovations that reduce, remove, prevent, or monitor greenhouse gas emissions.

The PTO said in a Thursday bulletin that official termination of the Climate Mitigation Patent Program, suspended in January, will help the agency direct resources to narrowing its backlog of pending patent applications, “regardless of what technology the application is directed to.”

The Biden era climate tech program was previously touted for offering inventors incentives to patent climate technology, and for clearing uncertainty for investors considering funding climate startups.

The agency reiterated in the notice it reserved the right to kill the climate patent program depending on factors such as “workload and resources needed to administer the program,” citing statements made during the program’s inception, the notice said. “Patent applicants interested in expediting the prosecution of their patent application may instead request prioritized examination.”

The PTO under acting director Coke Stewart has prioritized clearing its backlog of patent applications and appeals, as well as managing employee workload. Most recently the agency set new pendency goals and output targets for judges who review denied patent applications on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. In late a March policy change Stewart said the PTO’s director would review challenges to approved patents before they’re considered by PTAB judges, also citing “workload management.”