Green technology will be crucial in the fight against climate change. This gives particular importance to patent law, which ensures innovators can protect and exploit their inventions. So how are intellectual property (IP) agencies supporting sustainability?
Some have already acted, implementing special treatment for patent applications in green technology. In May 2009, for example, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) introduced the ‘Green Channel’, which offers an accelerated review of patents for technology that benefits the environment. Before that year was out, Australia, Israel, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the US had launched similar fast-track schemes, followed by Canada in 2011, Brazil and China in 2012, and subsequently Taiwan.
Such schemes acknowledge the growing importance of green innovation. According to figures from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), there’s been a sharp rise in patent applications worldwide for green energy and energy-efficient technologies under the international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). These were up from 7,804 in 2006 to 16,947 in 2020. Japan leads the way for applications by some margin, followed by the US, Germany, the Republic of Korea and China.