US Patents are Going up in Value

Higher Values for US Patents under John Squires

The new USPTO director John Squires is introducing greater certainty into the US patent system.

This is good news for small and medium sized businesses.

Since the advent of the America Invents Act in 2011 it has been too easy to challenge and invalidate granted US patents. It appears this will be changing under the new director.

Early signs are that he is also relaxing rules on patent eligibility, which should make it easier to obtain AI and software patents.

John Squires wants more ‘born strong’ patents, with fewer validity challenges, meaning there should be lower risk in the patent system for the patent holder.

These changes are likely to herald a fairer system for small to medium sized businesses, meaning that the licensing and sale value of their patents will increase accordingly. Let’s hope that soon US patents will become strategic assets once again.