WIPR survey: AIA and Alice explain US patent drop

The adoption of the America Invents Act (AIA) and the US Supreme Court’s decision in Alice v CLS Bank are the key reasons cited by WIPR readers for the drop in US patents granted last year.

Earlier this month, IFI Claims Patent Service reported a 1% drop in the number of patents granted in 2015 compared to the year before. The fall followed seven consecutive years of rises in patents being granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Last week, we asked WIPR readers what they believe is the reason for the drop.

Respondents stated that the AIA is a key reason. The AIA, which was passed by Congress in 2011, saw the introduction of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, a new forum under the control of the USPTO where parties can challenge the validity of existing patents.

One respondent said: “I believe the introduction of the AIA and the inter partes review has reduced the incentive for applicants to file junk patent applications for business methods and software inventions”.

Other respondents identified the Alice decision as the reason for the drop in the number of patents granted. In 2014, the Supreme Court invalidated licensing company Alice’s software patent on the grounds that it covered an “ ineligible abstract idea”.

“The Supreme Court is killing commercialisation of innovation with its rulings. The USPTO’s so-called quality standards shift from one day to the next,” one respondent said.

Another respondent stated that the cost of litigation is deterring inventors and businesses from filing for patents.

For this week’s survey we ask: “Last week a judge at the English High Court ruled that Nestle cannot protect its 'four fingered' Kit Kat bar with a trademark because it has not acquired distinctiveness. Do you agree with that ruling?”