November 9, 2022
Great ideas need protection. With a patent, an inventor decides who can make, use or sell an invention. These rights are not granted lightly. To qualify for a patent, an invention must be new and provide a significant contribution over what the world already knows. But it can be hard to get a handle on whether a potential invention will make the cut. Amplified plans to make this information more accessible for beneficiaries of the Inventor Assistance Program as a sponsor of the Program.
The Inventor Assistance Program (IAP) supports inventors and small businesses with limited resources transform their innovation into commercial assets. The Program matches selected beneficiaries with a volunteer patent attorney or agent. The IAP’s volunteers help them navigate the patent system at no cost. Creating the best possible patent applications requires an understanding of the state of the art. As a sponsor of the IAP, Amplified will make their artificial intelligence (AI) based patent searching platform available to the Program’s beneficiaries. The sponsorship will help IAP beneficiaries identify what makes their invention special and collaborate with the Program’s volunteers to craft more robust patent applications.
Amplified develops AI to make patents and technical papers more accessible. The company’s patent platform provides an intuitive way to find prior art in an hour or less even if you have no search experience. The platform is used today by inventors and IP professionals at corporations, research universities, patent offices, and IP law firms in 13 countries.
Samuel Davis, CEO and Founder of Amplified, describes the motivation behind their IAP sponsorship. “We started Amplified with the firm conviction that making information accessible and available to all is good for innovation and good for the patent system. Since supporting inventors is a core part of our mission, WIPO’s Inventor Assistance Program was a natural fit. We’re thrilled to become a sponsor and looking forward to making our technology available to support their mission.”
The sponsorship will also enable IAP participating countries to incorporate prior art searching more easily into their selection process. “In addition to facilitating the decision making, Amplified sponsorship will help maximize the impact of the program,” said Allison Mages, Head of IP Commercialization, IP for Business Division, WIPO. As Ms. Mages explained, “The Program runs with the help of volunteers who donate their time and skills to improve local innovation ecosystems. By improving the quality inventions selected by the program, volunteers can focus their energies on drafting applications with a better chance to secure a patent.”
A number of countries already incorporate this type of searching as part of the National Screening Board, including South Africa. Representatives of the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) trialed the tool prior to the sponsorship. “The results obtained from the search tool are of a high standard, that we are confident that the applications which are selected for pairing with a pro bono patent attorney will likely succeed in obtaining patent protection”. According to representatives of the CIPC, using Amplified’s platform cut their search time in half.
The sponsorship between Amplified and the IAP represents an important step towards securing an innovation-fueled future.
Visit the IAP Online Platform to learn more about how to become an IAP beneficiary or volunteer, or to find more information on the Program.