Green Patent Programs Worldwide – Prologue

In 2022, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) launched the Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program (CCMPP) to enable accelerated examination of eligible utility patent applications that, as of June 2023, involved technologies directed to mitigating climate change by reducing, removing, preventing, and/or monitoring greenhouse gas emissions.¹

The CCMPP provided accelerated examination benefits similar to that of the USPTO's "Track One" Prioritized Examination program,² wherein participating patent applications were advanced out of turn (made special) to expedite examination on the merits of the applications. Unlike the Track One program, however, the CCMPP did not require payment of the substantial prioritized examination fee ($4,515 for large entities as of this writing), albeit with a limitation on the number of applications that could be considered under the program according to listed inventors.³ As a result, the CCMPP provided innovators with a highly