PATENT GRANTS LOBBY GROUP
An Official Swanson Reed Partnership | Patent Policy Thinktank & Legislative Lobby Group
Securing patents and protecting intellectual property requires substantial capital commitment. Operating alongside Swanson Reed, the Patent Grants Lobby Group is a policy framework and thinktank designed to bridge the innovation “Valley of Death” for U.S. small businesses.
Rather than functioning as a grant database, the Patent Grants initiative advocates for systemic reform. We lobby for the implementation of a $50,000 federal grant per international patent family to offset rising IP costs, while introducing frameworks like the Collaborative Examination Pathway (CEP) to accelerate USPTO reviews. By uniting policy advocacy with Swanson Reed’s technical R&D tax advisory, we aim to reverse economic stagnation and foster a high-quality, high-velocity innovation ecosystem.
Empowering Innovators Through Four Core Policy Pillars
The Patent Grants Thinktank addresses the structural headwinds facing modern inventors by advocating for legislative and administrative changes across four key areas:
1. The $50,000 Patent Grant Initiative
Rising intellectual property costs and R&D amortization headwinds (such as IRC Section 174) suppress early-stage innovation. We advocate for direct financial intervention to neutralize these barriers.
- Federal Grant Subsidies: Lobbying for a $50,000 grant per international patent family to help small businesses cover patenting costs and attorney fees.
- Offsetting Financial Headwinds: Providing a capital bridge so companies can protect their IP without sacrificing ongoing R&D payroll.
2. The Collaborative Examination Pathway (CEP)
We propose reforming the adversarial patent examination system to reduce backlogs and accelerate commercialization. The CEP is a proposed front-loaded, optional USPTO track.
- Pre-Examination Conferences: Fostering early applicant-examiner collaboration to align claims before formal rejection.
- Accelerated Review: Utilizing AI tools and a secure digital platform to cut patent pendency times to just 6 to 9 months.
3. Combating NPEs & Improving Patent Quality
Low-quality patent grants fuel litigation by Non-Practicing Entities (NPEs), commonly known as “patent trolls,” which act as a tax on genuine innovation.
- Rigorous Curation: Ensuring higher-quality patent allowances through the CEP to bolster legal certainty and reduce post-grant disputes.
- Protecting Operating Companies: Defending true innovators from frivolous infringement claims that drain capital away from active research and development.
4. Macroeconomic Measurement via inventionINDEX
You cannot improve what you cannot measure. Our policy initiatives rely on real-time macroeconomic data to gauge innovation health and trigger government intervention.
- Tracking Innovation Elasticity: Utilizing Swanson Reed’s proprietary inventionINDEX to compare a region’s patent filing growth against state GDP.
- Data-Driven Policy: Using clear economic indicators to measure the success of Patent Grant subsidy programs and optimize future legislative R&D incentives.
