USPTO and New York Law School Announce Extension and Expansion of
Peer-to-Patent Pilot
Contact: Nancy Guida, 212.431.2325, nguida@nyls.edu
LaToya Nelson, 212.431.2191, lnelson@nyls.edu
NYLS Announces New Center for Patent Innovations to Be Led by
Former Red Hat Executive Mark Webbink
New York, NY(July, 16, 2008)—New York Law School, in cooperation
with the United States Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO), today
announced the extension of the Peer-to-Patent project, the year-long pilot
done by the Law School and the USPTO to streamline the patent examination
process by opening it to scientific and technical experts. The project
will be extended until June 15, 2009 and expanded to include applications
in the automated business data processing technologies, or business
methods, in Class 705, as announced by the USPTO in the Patent Official
Gazette. View the USPTO announcement at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/speeches/08-26.htm.
In the announcement from the USPTO, Jon Dudas, the Office’s Director
and Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, said, “The
USPTO continues to support the pilot of Peer Review to help it fulfill its
promise as a way to help get the best prior art expeditiously before the
examiner. Extending and expanding the pilot to include business method
patent applications will add more participants to the pilot and help us
and the public better assess the effectiveness of Peer Review.”
Peer-to-Patent, founded by Professor Beth Noveck, is the first social
networking project with a direct link to decision making by the federal
government. Data from the first year of the pilot shows that an open
network of peer reviewers can improve the quality of information available
to patent examiners. The project’s full anniversary report is
available at http://dotank.nyls.edu/communitypatent/P2Panniversaryreport.pdf.
Due to the success of Peer-to-Patent, the Law School has launched the
Center for Patent Innovations (CPI), a group that will focus on developing
community-building technology to improve the patent system. CPI will
incorporate the Peer-to-Patent project and expand it by developing
software-based service solutions that can be used by governments and
communities of interest, designing methods for government and corporate
partners to work together to produce better patents, and drafting legal
frameworks to enable and enhance collaborative opportunities. Professor
Noveck will serve as Chairman of the Board of Advisors.
“I’m pleased to announce the new Center, which will lead the
way in reforming the international patent system,” said Mark
Webbink, Executive Director of the new Center. “CPI will become a
pioneer in the patent field, helping to create an environment of
participation with patent examiners, scientists, and knowledgeable
experts, thereby improving the understanding and effectiveness of patent
systems. Establishing the Center for Patent Innovations was a natural
progression for the Peer-to-Patent project.”
The Center for Patent Innovations will further the work begun during the
first year of the Peer-to-Patent pilot. Its launch is made possible by a
generous $800,000 grant from the Omidyar Network.
“Peer-to-Patent has demonstrated that opening the patent process to
input from the public can improve governmental decision making,”
said Will Fitzpatrick, Director of Legal Affairs at Omidyar Network.
“We are happy to help New York Law School continue its pioneering
work to create systems that lead to more informed decisions about
patentability by funding the development of the Center for Patent
Innovations.”
Intellectual property expert Mark Webbink brings more than 20 years of
experience to his leadership of the Center. He was formerly the Senior
Vice President and General Counsel at Red Hat, the premier Linux and open
source vendor. During his tenure with Red Hat he developed a number of
groundbreaking intellectual property practices, including Red Hat’s
Patent Promise and the legal foundations for Red Hat’s subscription
model for open source software. Webbink has written and spoken extensively
on the subject of the U.S. patent system and the need for reform, including
testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Courts,
the Internet, and Intellectual Property; the Federal Trade Commission and
Department of Justice; and the National Academy of Sciences. He is the
former Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Software and Information
Industry Association and a present board member of the Software Freedom
Law Center.
About New York Law School
Founded in 1891, New York Law School is an independent law school located
in lower Manhattan near the city’s centers of law, government, and
finance. New York Law School’s renowned faculty of prolific scholars
has built the School’s strength in such areas as constitutional law,
civil and human rights, labor and employment law, media and information
law, urban legal studies, international and comparative law, and a number
of interdisciplinary fields. The School is noted for its eight academic
centers: Center for International Law, Center for New York City Law,
Center for Professional Values and Practice, Center for Real Estate
Studies, Center on Business Law & Policy, Center on Financial Services
Law, Institute for Information Law & Policy, and Justice Action Center.
New York Law School has more than 13,000 graduates and enrolls some 1,500
students in its full- and part-time J.D. program and its Master of Laws
(LL.M.) in Taxation program. www.nyls.edu
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