The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report calling for reforms aimed at patent “trolls” to help lower the number of frivolous lawsuits filed by shell companies, a move welcomed by the tech industry that has pushed for reform because of the cost of lawsuits that result from the activity and its negative effect on innovation, research and development.
The National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Department of Energy (DOE) far outpace their peer agencies in patenting output per dollar, according to a new study by Battelle's Technology Partnership Practice. Research funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the focus of the study, generated one patent for every $16.9 million invested by the federal government between 2000-2013.
On September 17, 2012, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) implemented seven provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act of 2011 (AIA) including:
The Obama administration recently announced two directives to accelerate the commercialization of research and provide small businesses with streamlined access to federal resources. In his announcement, President Obama tied the directives to his administration's recent jobs push, and noted the need to bypass Congress in order to quickly implement the changes.