Reimagining Patent Examination: A (Half-Baked) Proposal for Pre-Filing Certification
Patent – Patently-O 2025-02-20
Summary:
by Dennis Crouch
In 2025, the Trump administration is in the process of substantially reducing the federal workforce while also signaling interest in increasing reliance on Artificial Intelligence in federal government operations. In this environment of rapid transformation, where once-unthinkable changes are becoming daily realities, the opportunity for radical reform of government institutions has never, in my lifetime, been more tangible.
Amid this dramatic reshaping of federal operations, I wanted to explore a potential structural reform: allowing patent applicants to obtain pre-filing certification of their applications through rigorous outside examination equivalent to USPTO standards. This certification could then facilitate expedited examination at the USPTO, similar to how the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program operates for international applications, but with important distinctions that could make it more effective. The U.S. patent examination system faces persistent challenges of long pendency times, substantial unpredictability, variable quality despite the USPTO’s continued efforts at improvement, and high costs. Although not without potential serious concerns, the proposal could address many of these elements.
The core idea is straightforward: Before filing, applicants would submit their application to a certification entity that would conduct a thorough prior art search and patentability analysis.