SBIR Phase I: Collaborative Patent Drafting Software

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop a patent-drafting software tool based on a broadband-enabled Rich Internet Application. The software will include a set of components - a drawing annotator, a claims outliner, and a discussion module - that will enhance collaborative efforts among patent attorneys and the researchers who developed the invention. The project will entail prototyping a set of collaborative knowledge representation methodologies. The prototype will be evaluated through a patent drafting cycle by several patent attorneys drafting applications for their clients. Of successful, this tool has would have the potential shift the way in which intellectual property is developed; moving it towards a balanced collaboration between attorneys and researchers. The U.S. economy relies heavily and increasingly upon intellectual property, and patents are the currency of this economy. In 2005, 400,000 patent applications were filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), a quantity that has been growing annually at nearly 10% for a decade. A U.S. patent application typically costs $10,000 (resulting in a U.S. market for patent prosecution legal services of $4 billion per year) and requires either specialized knowledge or the time to learn how to navigate the process. The proposed patent-drafting software tool should increase the productivity of researchers working with patent attorneys and produce more valuable, defensible patents.