(Continued from the previous blog titled “Submarine patent”)
THE PATENT OFFICE releases information about inventions 18 months after their applications (inventor, description and drawings) have been filed. This system, known as the 18-month publication system, is used globally. As a result, a company like Company A's invention won't be known to its competitor Company B until 18 months later. For example, we will find out in March 2025 whether Japan's Softbank, an investor, filed over 10,000 AI-related applications before the Japan Patent Office in September 2023 or not. (More details in the previous blog titled “Submarine patent” ) During this waiting period, rival companies may develop similar inventions independently, potentially leading to patent infringement issues.
To prevent such complications, there have been suggestions to reduce the 18-month waiting period to as short as one month or even zero days.
There are likely two reasons why the 18-month period exists. First, in the past, patent gazettes were printed on paper until the 19th and late 20th centuries, and publishing required editing, layout work, printing and delivery. Second, in the 19th century, international postal services took a long time, especially when compared to today's mail services. Correspondence between foreign applicants, patent offices, and agents could take months due to these reasons.
Today, with the internet and email, people can instantly publish their work on social networking sites. Considering this, what if we changed the publication of patents from 18 months to 0 months? There may be some negative points, what is your opinion?