Fast Tracks and Green Gaps Part II: Innovation Interrupted: What the End of the USPTO’s Green Program Means for Agri-Tech

The United States has long been a major player in both agri-tech innovation and the intellectual property (IP) landscape. In the past, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) offered its own version of a green patent fast-track to encourage climate-friendly inventions. Notably, in 2009 to 2011 the USPTO ran a Green Technology Pilot Program that prioritized examination for certain eco-friendly patents. The pilot ended in 2012, but more recently the USPTO brought back the idea in June 2022, with the Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program, which was essentially an accelerated examination program for patent applications directed to fight climate change. Under this program, inventions designed to reduce or monitor greenhouse gas emissions, including many clean energy, sustainability or climate-smart agriculture innovations, could be examined out of turn. Importantly, like Canada’s program, the US pilot did not charge the usual petition fee for expediting. The goal was to spur green tech by making it faster and cheaper to secure IP rights.

Policy Shift

However, there has been a significant policy shift in the United States recently. The USPTO’s Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program was suspended on January 28, 2025, and formally terminated in April 2025 and the special “green fast-track” for patent applications is no longer available in the United States. The program was initially supposed to run until 2027 (or until 4,000 applications had been accepted, whichever came first) but it was cut short. The USPTO explained that terminating the program allows them to dedicate resources to reducing patent backlogs for all, allowing examiners to focus on all applications rather than giving special treatment to green ones. This decision came under a new administration’s direction and reflects a shift in how the United States balances overall efficiency versus targeted incentives.

Impact on Innovators

What does the end of this program mean for innovators? For US agri-tech startups working on climate solutions, it removes a free tool that could accelerate their patents. Under the pilot, a company developing, say, a novel methane-capturing system for cattle farms could jump to the front of the patent line without extra fees. Without the pilot, the same company now has a couple of options: wait in the normal patent queue (which often takes 1.5–2+ years for a first review) or pay for “Track One” prioritized examination. Track One is the USPTO’s general fast-track program open to any technology, but it comes with a hefty fee attached. For small businesses, these fees can be a significant expense. The contrast is clear. The canceled climate program offered fee-free acceleration, whereas now speeding up a US patent requires a financial trade-off.

Patent Support for Green Innovation in Agriculture

It’s worth noting that the USPTO’s green tech program, while active, saw a fair amount of interest. The United States had the highest number of fast-track requests among major patent offices (over 3,500 green tech petitions in the first iteration). Many of those requests came from renewable energy sectors like wind power, which was the most common technology expedited in the US agri-tech inventions, for example, biofuels or carbon sequestration methods in soil, were also eligible if they had clear climate benefits.

The question remains whether the absence of a dedicated patent fast-track will have a noticeable impact. For an agri-tech startup in the United States, the IP strategy may need to adjust. Companies might file in other countries first to leverage faster patents, or budget for the Track One fees if a quick US patent is critical for their business.

Summing it Up

The United States went from actively promoting green patenting via an accelerated program to reverting to the standard system for all. This development contrasts with Canada’s sustained pro-climate patent stance and prompts a closer look at how these policy differences could play out in practice.

Part I of Fast Tracks and Green Gaps looks at Planting the Future: Why Canada’s IP System May Be the Climate Innovation Sleeper Hit.

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