By Donald Zuhn —

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced today that it has begun a pilot project with the Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV) in an attempt to reduce the USPTO’s growing backlog of U.S. national applications waiting to be examined.  The pilot program will test the feasibility of having the PRV process international applications filed with the USPTO under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.  In particular, the PRV will search and examine 50 PCT Chapter I applications covering a range of technologies, and the USPTO will then review the PRV’s work to ensure that it meets USPTO standards.

The USPTO noted in its release that each year it receives more than 50,000 PCT international applications and more than 400,000 national applications.  The Patent Office hopes that by outsourcing the search and examination of international applications, the Office can redirect resources to its backlog of approximately 750,000 U.S. national applications.