[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 105 (Thursday, June 1, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35841-35843]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-11660]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Patent and Trademark Office

[Docket No.: PTO-P-2023-0023]


Expansion and Extension of the Climate Change Mitigation Pilot 
Program

AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: On June 3, 2022, the United States Patent and Trademark Office 
(USPTO) implemented the Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program as a 
component of its ongoing efforts to encourage and incentivize 
innovation in the climate space and as an example of its commitment to 
policies tackling climate change. The initial phase of the

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program--ending June 5, 2023--has sought to positively impact the 
climate by accelerating the examination of patent applications for 
products and processes designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 
Through this notice, the USPTO is expanding the program to include 
innovations in any economic sector that are designed to make progress 
toward achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. This includes 
innovations designed to remove greenhouse gases already present in the 
atmosphere; reduce and/or prevent additional greenhouse gas emissions; 
and/or monitor, track, and/or verify greenhouse gas emission 
reductions. The USPTO is also increasing the filing limitations for 
petitions under the program and extending the duration of the program. 
These changes will permit more applications to qualify for the program, 
thereby allowing more innovations that will aid in achieving national 
climate goals to be advanced out of turn for examination. As with the 
existing program, applications accepted into the expanded program will 
be advanced out of turn (accorded special status) for first action on 
the merits. The conditions, eligibility requirements, and guidelines of 
the expanded program will be the same as those established for the 
existing program, unless modified by this notice. By expanding and 
extending the program, the USPTO aims to emphasize the urgency of zero- 
and negative-emissions solutions, and further encourage investment in 
an equitable, clean energy future.

DATES: Pilot Duration: The Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program, as 
expanded by this notice, will run from June 6, 2023, until either June 
7, 2027, or the date the USPTO accepts a total of 4,000 grantable 
petitions (considering both the existing and expanded programs), 
whichever occurs first. The USPTO may, at its sole discretion, 
terminate the program depending on factors such as workload and 
resources needed to administer the program, feedback from the public, 
and the effectiveness of the program. If the program is terminated, the 
USPTO will notify the public. The USPTO will continue to indicate on 
its website the total number of petitions filed and the number of 
applications accepted into the program.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kristie A. Mahone, Senior Legal 
Advisor, Office of Patent Legal Administration, Office of the Deputy 
Commissioner for Patents, at 571-272-9016 or [email protected]; 
or Susy Tsang-Foster, Senior Legal Advisor, Office of Patent Legal 
Administration, Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Patents, at 571-
272-7711 or [email protected]. For questions on electronic 
filing, please contact the Patent Electronic Business Center at 866-
217-9197 during its operating hours of 6 a.m. to midnight ET, Monday-
Friday, or [email protected]. For questions related to a particular 
petition, please contact the Office of Petitions at 571-272-3282 during 
its operating hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, Monday-Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Part I. Background

    Executive Order 14008, dated January 27, 2021, calls for 
immediately reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving net-zero 
greenhouse gas emissions no later than 2050. See E.O. 14008 of January 
27, 2021: Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, 86 FR 7619 
(Feb. 1, 2021). Net-zero greenhouse gas emissions means that the 
measure of greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere is 
counterbalanced by the measure of greenhouse gas removed from the 
atmosphere. While accelerating innovations designed to reduce emissions 
is of foremost importance, solutions for removing greenhouse gases from 
the atmosphere are critical because of the unlikelihood of eliminating 
emissions in all sectors. See The Long-Term Strategy of the United 
States: Pathways to Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050 (Nov. 
2021), available at www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/US-Long-Term-Strategy.pdf (2021 Long-Term Strategy).
    In 2022, the USPTO published a notice implementing the Climate 
Change Mitigation Pilot Program, which aligns with and supports 
Executive Order 14008. See Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program, 87 
FR 33750 (June 3, 2022) (2022 Notice). The initial phase of the program 
has focused on innovations that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 
Specifically, the existing program permits an application that claims 
certain products and/or processes designed to reduce greenhouse gas 
emissions to be advanced out of turn (accorded special status) for 
first action on the merits without meeting all of the requirements of 
the accelerated examination program, if the applicant files a petition 
to make special under 37 CFR 1.102(d) that meets all the requirements 
in the 2022 Notice. In the petition to make special, the applicant must 
certify that: (1) the claimed invention covers a product or process 
that mitigates climate change, (2) the product or process is designed 
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, (3) the applicant has a good faith 
belief that expediting patent examination of the application will 
likely have a positive impact on the climate, and (4) the inventor or 
any joint inventor has not been named as the inventor or a joint 
inventor on more than four other nonprovisional applications in which a 
petition to make special under this program has been filed. The USPTO, 
however, committed to periodically evaluating the program to determine 
whether and to what extent coverage should be expanded or limited.

Part II. Expansion of the Pilot Program

A. Subject Matter Coverage

    As stressed in the 2021 Long-Term Strategy, reaching net-zero 
greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 necessitates a robust pursuit of 
removal solutions, given the unlikelihood of completely eliminating 
greenhouse gas emissions from some activities. Further, technologies 
designed to monitor, track, and/or verify greenhouse gas emission 
reductions are anticipated as necessary expedients. See U.S. Innovation 
to Meet 2050 Climate Goals: Assessing Initial R&D Opportunities (Nov. 
2022), available at www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/U.S.-Innovation-to-Meet-2050-Climate-Goals.pdf. Considering the criticality 
of tackling climate change and the experiential knowledge of the USPTO 
resources needed to deliver accelerated review in the climate space, 
the USPTO is expanding the program to include a broader range of 
technologies designed to make progress toward achieving the goal of 
net-zero emissions. Specifically, the USPTO is replacing the second 
certification set forth in the 2022 Notice with a certification ``that 
the product or process is designed to: (a) remove greenhouse gases 
already present in the atmosphere; (b) reduce and/or prevent additional 
greenhouse gas emissions; and/or (c) monitor, track, and/or verify 
greenhouse gas emission reductions.'' Applicants must continue to 
certify that the claimed invention covers a product or process that 
mitigates climate change, and that they have a good faith belief that 
expediting patent examination of the application will likely have a 
positive impact on the climate, as set forth in the 2022 Notice.

B. Filing Limitations

    The USPTO is also increasing the filing limitations to afford more 
opportunities to participate. In particular, an applicant may file a 
petition to participate in the program if

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the inventor or any joint inventor has not been named as the inventor 
or a joint inventor on more than 12--up from 4--other nonprovisional 
patent applications in which a petition to make special under this 
program has been filed. Specifically, the USPTO is replacing the fourth 
certification set forth in the 2022 Notice with a certification ``that 
the inventor or any joint inventor has not been named as the inventor 
or a joint inventor on more than 12 other nonprovisional applications 
in which a petition to make special under this program has been 
filed.'' If the inventor or any one of the joint inventors of the 
current application has been named as the inventor or a joint inventor 
on more than 12 other nonprovisional patent applications in which 
petitions under this program have been filed, then the petition for the 
current application may not be appropriately filed. Any petitions filed 
during the existing program count toward the filing limitations in the 
expanded program.

C. Office Form Required for Filing a Petition

    Petition form PTO/SB/457, titled ``CERTIFICATION AND PETITION TO 
MAKE SPECIAL UNDER THE CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION PILOT PROGRAM,'' is 
still required to make the petition under the program. Other than the 
changes to the subject matter coverage and the filing limitations 
described above, the conditions, eligibility requirements, and 
guidelines of the program will be the same as those provided in the 
2022 Notice. The USPTO will modify the certifications contained in 
petition form PTO/SB/457--at numbered items 2 and 11--to correspond 
with the changes described above. The modified petition form will be 
available for use on June 6, 2023, at www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/forms.
    The USPTO reminds applicants that under the 2022 Notice, the 
petition to make special (form PTO/SB/457) must be electronically filed 
using Patent Center, with the application or entry into the national 
stage under 35 U.S.C. 371, or within 30 days of the filing date or 
entry date of the application. The USPTO encourages applicants 
interested in participating in the program to review the 2022 Notice, 
along with the information provided on the program's web page, at 
www.uspto.gov/patents/laws/patent-related-notices/climate-change-mitigation-pilot-program.

Part III. Extension of the Pilot Program

    The program, as expanded by this notice, will run from June 6, 
2023, until either June 7, 2027, or until the date that the USPTO 
accepts a total of 4,000 grantable petitions, whichever occurs first. 
The total of 4,000 grantable petitions includes petitions granted under 
the existing and expanded programs combined. Information concerning the 
number of petitions that have been filed and granted under the program 
will continue to be available on the program's web page. The USPTO may 
further extend the program (with or without modifications) depending on 
feedback from the participants and the effectiveness of the program.

Katherine K. Vidal,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of 
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2023-11660 Filed 5-31-23; 8:45 am]
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