Climate Confident From Filing to Patent in 6 Months: The Untold Story of the USPTO’s Climate Program
In this episode of the Climate Confident podcast, I spoke with Ryan Schermerhorn, a US-based patent attorney who’s been helping clean tech innovators navigate the IP maze - until recently with the help of a now-suspended fast-track programme.
We discussed the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program, which allowed inventors of emissions-reducing technologies to get patents approved in months rather than years, at no cost. Ryan explained how it worked, why it was a big deal for clean tech startups, and how it quietly disappeared earlier this year following a political shift.
We also unpacked what this means for innovators now. Ryan shared practical alternatives - like using international patent offices with similar climate fast-track schemes and leveraging the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) to speed things up globally.
We also covered the balance between IP protection and open innovation, why patents still matter in the climate crisis, and how to protect ideas early without blowing the budget.
If you're working in climate tech, clean energy, or emissions monitoring and need to protect or scale your innovation, this episode is for you.
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Credits
Music credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper