In defense of changes intended to reduce delays and enhance patent quality, the head of the US Patent and Trademark Office has predicted that artificial intelligence will lead to a significant transformation of the patent system.
USPTO Director John Squires testified before a House Judiciary subcommittee on Wednesday (local time) that the agency is utilizing AI technology to expedite patent review and address a rising backlog of applications.
Squires informed legislators that “AI tools will become our examiners’ superpowers” and that the new systems are able to identify prior art more quickly and assist examiners in managing more and more complicated filings.
He said the office had already started using AI throughout the patent and trademark processes, including tools that produce search results in a matter of seconds rather than months.
The initiative was framed by Squires as part of a larger drive to improve the agency and bolster the American innovation economy. He referred to the USPTO as the “Central Bank of innovation,” stating that every patent or trademark represents “a potential job, a new business, a competitive advantage. ”
The agency is also working to lower the number of unprocessed patent applications, which had reached all-time highs. Squires stated that measures are being taken to greatly reduce the backlog while simultaneously enhancing the quality of patents.
However, the reforms drew intense legislative scrutiny, with Democrats warning that policy modifications may politicize a historically autonomous body and undermine oversight.
The USPTO has been “drawn squarely” into partisan politics, and this has given rise to worries about declining employee morale and changes in regulations, according to ranking member Hank Johnson.
“American innovation pays the price when policy changes with the political whims of an administration,” Johnson said.
The agency’s management of patent disputes before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) was a major source of disagreement. The argument was made by critics that restricting repeated challenges may raise the cost of litigation and allow bad patents to survive.
Squires defended the modifications, claiming that they are intended to put an end to system misuse and provide closure to disagreements.
He stated, “There should be a moment in time when there is a silent title… and it has to be resolved once and for all.”
The involvement of foreign-backed organizations in patent conflicts was one of the examples of foreign influence and national security dangers that lawmakers brought up.
The USPTO has taken measures to strengthen disclosure requirements and prevent foreign sovereign players from engaging in particular proceedings, according to Squires.
A contentious trademark application connected to a planned “Board of Peace” initiative was also brought up at the hearing, with several lawmakers expressing concerns about possible conflicts of interest.
More than 475,000 new patent applications were submitted to the USPTO in fiscal year 2025, indicating a consistent increase in the need for intellectual property protection.
Alongside ongoing finance via user fees, Squires stated that IT modernization and AI would be crucial to handling this demand.