Intellectual Property: White House Announces Strategy for American Innovation

On February 4, the White House issued the "Strategy for American Innovation." The Strategy, which updates the "Innovation Strategy" issued in 2009, includes a patent reform agenda that the White House declared "essential to reducing the enormous backlog of patent applications at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO). By stalling the delivery of innovative goods and services to market, this backlog impedes economic growth and the creation of high-paying jobs. The patent reform legislative agenda will enable the USPTO to adequately fund its operations through user fees and allow the agency to implement new initiatives to improve patent quality while reducing the average delay in patent processing times from 35 months to 20 months. Once implemented, the USPTO’s proposed three-track model will allow applicants to prioritize applications, enabling the most valuable patents to come to market within 12 months."