Google criticizes proposed Patent Office policy changes, citing AI tech

Aug 24 (Reuters) – Google’s (GOOGL.O) general counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado has told the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that proposed changes to a tribunal that hears challenges to patent validity could harm developers and stifle innovation in the fast-growing field of artificial intelligence.

DeLaine Prado said, in a Wednesday letter obtained by Reuters, that the changes would make it more difficult to challenge patents at the PTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board and could allow for low-quality AI patents that “block and bottleneck innovation for years.”

DeLaine Prado asked the PTO to withdraw the proposed changes, create an initiative to train patent examiners on AI technology and fund it with increased fees from large companies like Google.

The office said in April that it was considering several changes to PTAB proceedings, including new limits on who can file review petitions and tightened standards for granting review requests.

The board’s review process is popular with big tech companies like Google that are often targeted with patent-infringement complaints as a faster, cheaper way to end the lawsuits.

The reviews have been criticized by inventors and others who say the tribunal invalidates an unfairly high number of patents.

DeLaine Prado said in her letter to the office that the process was “carefully constructed” to allow for the “expert, efficient, and cost-effective review of the small subset of patents with the greatest impact on our economy.” She said the office’s proposed changes would restrict access to the process, calling them “very problematic.”

“If a patent challenge is timely and has merit, meeting the strict requirements Congress already put in place, it should be heard by the USPTO,” DeLaine Prado’s letter said.

Companies including Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon have also come out against the proposed changes in public comments on the office’s rulemaking.

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