Generation AI is a powerful tool that helps inventors create faster, smarter, and more ambitious than ever before. At Google, 17% of our inventions have been created with the help of AI over the past year, and we are the leader in patented, generated AI innovations, including some of the original inventions in this field.
But our patent system will also need to evolve in order for the US to remain leader in this next wave of innovation.
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) plays a key role in AI development and US leadership, but its work has become much more difficult. The influx of patent applications, an increasingly complex technology and flooding of technical information makes it difficult to accurately assess which applications meet the legal requirements of a patent and create useless obstacles that hinder growth.
Once John Squires begins his term as director of the PTO, the US has the opportunity to promote American leadership of AI by prioritizing efforts to grant valid patents and allowing invalid patents to be dealt efficiently.
Here are four ways that the USPTO can achieve this:
1. Get the required resources to USPTO.
The USPTO needs sufficient resources to evaluate the complex inventions seen every day. Currently, it relies on patent application fees. This has not been fully paid until several years after the patent is granted. We agree with Commerce Secretary Lutnick that the fees should reflect the actual costs of thorough reviews. One way to do this is to require large patent filers like us to pay more fees in advance, and ensure that these fees remain with the agent.
2. Accept AI to support patent examiners.
AI can make better use of the limited time period where patent examiners need to review applications. The USPTO has already used AI to route patents to the appropriate examiner and find evidence that the invention may already exist. The USPTO needs to expand the use of AI to enable patent examiners to manage workloads and identify potentially abusive filing activities.
3. It supports American innovators using AI.
AI is not an inventor, it is a tool. USPTO must ensure that if a human uses AI to create something new, the patent should go to the inventor rather than the generating AI. This result coincides with how AI is used as a tool in developing new technologies, and is firmly supported by patent law.
4.Restore access to Interparty.
With the increasing number and complexity of patent applications, mistakes are inevitable. The Inter Partes Review program helps the USPTO correct its own testing errors through careful review of patents with the greatest economic impact. This is a simpler and more efficient approach than forcing parties to wasteful patent litigation. The USPTO should restore access to this program, promote patent quality and disable AI-related patents to avoid suppressing American innovation.
We look forward to working with Director Squire in this work to help USPTO unlock the full potential of AI and US technology leadership.
