United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Establishes New Pre-application Assessment Program to Help American Inventors

Excerpt:  “Today, the USPTO announced a new pre-application review program called the ‘Pre-Prosecution Pilot’ as part of its continuing commitment to expand access to the innovation ecosystem and support underresourced inventors. The pilot program is designed to support first-time, prospective inventors by providing assistance in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of a potential patent application. USPTO examiners will help first-time prospective patent applicants assess if their invention is novel in the art by providing search assistance using public patent tools.”