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Paul Fucito or Mandy Kraft
(571) 272-8400 or paul.fucito@uspto.gov or mandy.kraft@uspto.gov
WASHINGTON — The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) became a technology partner to the global green-technology platform of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), WIPO GREEN.
WIPO GREEN is a public-private partnership established by WIPO in 2013. Its 145 international partners include major technology companies, intellectual property (IP) offices, business groups, research institutes, and nongovernmental organizations. The partnership provides an online platform for technology exchange, connecting providers and seekers of environmentally friendly technologies, and organizes acceleration projects, conferences, and international events that highlight the availability of green technologies.
“By becoming a WIPO GREEN partner, the USPTO joins the effort to help companies, communities, and individuals from around the world identify innovative green technologies and who is producing and selling them,” said Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. “This is a critical tool we can use to meet the challenge of global climate change, and helps fulfill President Biden’s promise to engage in international efforts that support climate-aligned technologies and investments.”
The announcement came at a meeting the USPTO Director held with WIPO Director General Daren Tang during the organization’s annual Meetings of the Assemblies in Geneva, Switzerland.
The USPTO’s contributions to WIPO GREEN include its own initiatives that are designed to address the challenge of climate change, including:
- The USPTO Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program, which accelerates the examination of patent applications involving innovations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- The soon-to-be-announced Patents for Humanity: Clean Energy Technologies awards competition, a green technology–focused version of the USPTO’s highly successful Patents for Humanity awards competition
With this announcement, the USPTO joins 10 other IP offices as partners in WIPO GREEN: Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, France, Japan, Lebanon, Morocco, Portugal, and Switzerland.
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