Innovation leveraging crowdsourcing is necessary to save the USPTO because traditional processes are not sufficient to keep pace with load.

1. Crowd Review:
Necessary Innovation to
Save the USPTO
Dr. Augustine Fou
http://www.linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
November 4, 2012.

2. US Patent and Trademarks
• Not enough funding or staff to handle the massive
surge in applications.
• Staff inadequately versed in details and nuances of
new technologies and claims
• Dramatic increase in time to review and prosecute
patents.
• Increase in errors and “adverse events” (patents
getting issued when clear prior art exists but was not
discovered during examination)
-2- Augustine Fou

3. YouTube
Flag as Inappropriate
Even Google doesn’t have
enough staff to review
every uploaded video.
If enough users flag
a video as
inappropriate, it is
removed
automatically.
-3- Augustine Fou

4. Amazon
Reviews of the Reviews
Was this review helpful?
Yes | No
Users prioritize the most
thoughtful reviews to the top
If there are hundreds of
reviews, it is much more
likely to be true (hard for the
advertiser to game the system)
-4- Augustine Fou

5. Quora
Q&A and Problem-Solving
Leveraging subject matter
experts; verified by the
community via their track
record.
Collective problem-solving
to tackle difficult challenge
Ask and answer questions
-5- Augustine Fou

6. Crowd Review
• Crowdsources the identification of prior art, much of
which is not well documented or findable via
traditional search methods.
• If enough of the audience agrees, we tend towards
accuracy via corroboration.
• Reduces reliance on a single reviewer’s examination
and opinion to determine if a patent is issuable.
• Leverages subject matter experts in addition to
examiner’s expertise to review the patent application.
-6- Augustine Fou

7. So What?
“The speed of information has created a
situation where the incoming load of
patent applications has far outpaced the
ability of the old patent review processes
to handle; innovation that leverages the
crowd is necessary.”
- Dr. Augustine Fou
-7- Augustine Fou

8. Dr. Augustine Fou – Chief Digital Strategist
“I advise clients on optimizing and
innovating business processes in
order to thrive in a new business
environment.”
FORMER CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER, HCG (OMNICOM)
MCKINSEY CONSULTANT
CLIENT SIDE / AGENCY SIDE EXPERIENCE
PROFESSOR AND COLUMNIST
ENTREPRENEUR / SMALL BUSINESS OWNER
PHD MATERIALS SCIENCE (MIT '95) AT AGE 23
ClickZ Articles: http://www.clickz.com/author/1151/augustine-fou
Slideshares: http://www.slideshare.net/augustinefou
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/augustinefou
November 4, 2012 8
acfou@mktsci.com