"Open Call From the Patent Office"
Washington Post (03/05/07) P. A1; Sipress, Alan
The United States Patent Office will soon allow members of the online
community to post and evaluate information concerning patent proposals
on a new wiki-style Web site. "For the first time in history, it allows
the patent-office examiners to open up their cubicles and get access to
a whole world of technical experts," said IBM's David J. Kappos. The
pilot project will start this Spring and feature a community rating
system that prioritizes the most respected comments. During the pilot
phase of the project about 250 software design applications will be
posted on the Web site since examiners have an especially difficult time
finding documentation for them. Any user can post information relating
to patent proposals, but a "reputation system" will be put in place to
rank submitted materials and measure the expertise of contributors. In
order to develop a reliable reputation system, the Patent Office has
forged partnerships with several e-commerce specialists. Patent
examiners will be able to award "gold stars" to those who provide
exceptionally useful information.
The information submitted will eventually be voted on by registered
users, with the top 10 items being sent along to an examiner who will
make the final decision on the patent. "The idea is to make something
as important as decision-making about innovation more transparent to the
public and more accountable to the public," says new York Law School
Professor Beth Noveck.
The system is expected to go through some changes, specifically the
voting process, which may limit the ability to vote or give more weight
to some votes.
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/04/AR2007030401263.html>
Show replies by date