Parallel Gauntlets: Peer Review & Patent Examination

Here are the similarities (and key differences) between the processes of peer review and patent examination for scientist-inventors applying for a U.S. Patent.

NOTE: this is an over simplification to get the conversation started between scientists and IP professionals.

There are many other notable nuances such as:

-> Turn around time (e.g. manuscripts are generally turned around much faster than applications)

-> Data requirement (e.g. most manuscripts are scrutinized for proper statistics, whereas applications may rely on as little as prophetic examples)

-> Length (e.g. manuscripts must conform to the journal’s length requirements, whereas applications are nearly unlimited)

-> Appeals (e.g. authors of manuscripts can always try somewhere else, whereas applications have a formal appeal process)

Can you think of others?