[1] An initial pilot project in collaboration with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) was completed June 15, 2009.
Following the conclusion of the initial pilot the USPTO undertook an evaluation of Peer To Patent assisted by students from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
However, for a proper balance to be struck, the system must avoid awarding patents to discourage inventions that lack merit.
When the system becomes inconsistent in recognizing true invention, inappropriately issued patents become obstacles for innovation in that technology area.
Prior art can include earlier patents, academic papers, magazine articles, web pages, and even physical examples.
Attempts to involve the public in government decision-making (other than voting and referendums, which are frequently powerful, but are also intermittent and very restrictive of the public's capacity for subtle, expressive input) previously fell into two categories, both usually of minimal impact: The paradigm underlying Peer To Patent is relatively novel, and involves clear goals, direction, and structure.
The more immediate underpinnings are best described in a series of papers by the creator of Peer to Patent, Beth Simone Noveck of New York Law School.
Relevant papers include: The promise of Peer To Patent also draws on the success of various other movements that have created effective, productive communities on the Internet from far-flung individuals: free software and open-source software development, peer-to-peer systems for the collaborative sharing of data and computer processing, and Wikipedia.
The extended pilot has expanded to include so-called Business Methods patents (class 705) that fall under Technology Center 3600.
The computer industry provides most of the steering committee members, since the initial pilot focused on Technology Center 2100.
A description of the technology used on the site is stated in their first anniversary report, The success of the initial pilot will likely lead to a gradual expansion of Peer To Patent to cover more and more categories of patents; for example the second U.S. pilot has been expanded to include speech recognition, telecommunications, biotechnology, and bioinformatics.
[7] Channels, standards, and protocols will be created to let inventors and other participants in the process integrate their own data and work flows.
More broadly, Peer To Patent shows how the public can become more self-governing by interacting in an organized manner with government officials.
[20] Some highlights from the First Anniversary report: Criticism of the Peer to Patent project range from its goals to its likelihood of success to its unintended consequences.