The
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today unveiled a new
web-based intellectual property (IP) marketplace platform, Patents 4 Partnerships,
to provide the public with a user-friendly, searchable repository of
patents and published patent applications related to the COVID-19
pandemic that are indicated as available for licensing.
The
new platform will facilitate the voluntary licensing and
commercialization of innovations in a variety of key technologies, and
help disseminate valuable patent information.
As
President Donald J. Trump noted in his Proclamation on World
Intellectual Property Day, 2020: “The importance of intellectual
property has never been more apparent than it is now, as we continue the
ongoing battle against the coronavirus.”
Patents
4 Partnerships may contribute toward this battle by helping to bring to
the marketplace new products and technologies for the prevention,
treatment, and diagnosis of COVID-19. In the future, the platform may be
expanded to include other technologies.
“Patents
4 Partnerships is a meeting place that enables patent owners who want
to license their IP rights to connect with the individuals and
businesses who can turn those rights into solutions for our health and
wellbeing,” said Andrei Iancu, Under Secretary of Commerce for
Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. “With an initial focus
on COVID-19, the platform shows how innovation can contribute to the
nation’s response to this critical health emergency.”
Patents
4 Partnerships allows users to search and sort information in a variety
of easy-to-use ways, including by keyword, inventor name, assignee and
issue date. At launch, its contents have been drawn from a variety of
public sources, including the USPTO, the Federal Laboratory Consortium
for Technology Transfer (FLC Business), the AUTM Innovation Marketplace
(AIM), universities, and a number of federal agencies, including the
National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Food and Drug Administration,
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of
Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs databases.
Users
are invited to send comments through the link provided on the main page
of the platform. IP owners are invited to submit additional
technologies that they believe are related to the COVID-19 crisis.