March 14, 2025 Reshaping Manufacturing for a Sustainable Future

While recent changes threaten cleantech advancements in the U.S., there are opportunities for manufacturers to protect their IP.

By Ryan Schermerhorn and Christopher Zahn

The most recent COP29 Summit, held in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November, represents further progress toward the commitments to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by the United States and other countries pledged during the previous year’s event as well as at other climate change-related conferences. During the COP29 Summit, six additional countries committed to tripling their nuclear energy generation portfolios by 2050, building on an initiative titled “Declaration to Triple Nuclear Energy,”  now supported by 31 countries. The U.S., a signatory to this effort, outlined its plan to increase nuclear capacity by 35 GW by 2035 and sustain 15 GW additions yearly by 2040.

As with any ambitious innovation to reduce the nation’s carbon footprint, reaching these goals will likely require significant technological improvements and, subsequently, the protection of that technology. Indeed, according to one metric from the International Energy Agency (IEA), 6,271 patents related to nuclear technology were granted worldwide between 2000 and 2023.

Powering the future with cleantech

For example, NuScale Power, a U.S. company, is making significant strides in nuclear energy with its small modular reactors (SMRs), which have already received approval from federal regulators. These compact reactors can generate general power and supply energy to data centers. Along the way, NuScale has secured multiple patents, including those on nuclear imaging and reactor safety innovations. One key patent focuses on a safety system that helps release coolant in emergencies to prevent overheating.

Meanwhile, Massachusetts-based Commonwealth Fusion Systems is working to bring fusion energy—a process that mimics the sun’s power—to reality. This team is developing high-temperature superconducting magnets, a crucial technology for making fusion energy commercially viable. The company has also pursued patents to protect its innovations, including a unique magnet design that could be used in future fusion power plants. If successful, fusion energy could provide a cleaner and virtually limitless power source.

Setbacks to protecting cleantech innovations in the U.S.

In the U.S., until recently, patent applications for technologies claiming “a product or process that mitigates climate change” could receive expedited examination at no charge to the applicant through the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s (USPTO) popular Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program. However, in late January 2025, the USPTO indefinitely suspended the program, presumably in response to President Trump’s Executive Orders to end funding that addresses climate change. Given that the USPTO also recently closed a pilot program created with the CHIPS Act, aimed at expediting applications related to semiconductor innovation, patent applicants will now find significantly fewer direct options to accelerate their applications in the U.S. when they relate to technology that could help reduce GHG emissions.

Strategic considerations to protect cleantech innovations in the U.S.

However, all is not lost for U.S. applicants looking to expedite their applications related to clean technology, especially for those willing to think creatively.

First, alternatives exist at the USPTO to leverage programs for expedited examination in select countries with climate-change-related accelerated examination programs. Patent offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, and Korea, which represent six of the top 11 jurisdictions by patent grants as of 2022, allow for some form of accelerated examination for clean technology. For example, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) provides for free accelerated examination of technologies “that, if commercialized, would help to resolve or mitigate environmental impacts or to conserve the natural environment or natural resources.” Similarly, the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) allows for free, accelerated examination for applications that cover “green inventions” or “that ha[ve] an energy-saving effect and contribute[] to CO2 reduction.” Finally, the Korean Patent Office (KIPO) allows for accelerated examination for a small fee for applications related to green technology, defined broadly as those “mainly for prevention or elimination of pollution.”

Second, after filing, examination, and the allowance of a set of patent claims directed to the clean technology, an applicant can use those claims to pursue expedited examination in the U.S. through the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH). Implemented in 2014, the PPH was created to improve patent quality and reduce the workload for examining offices by allowing for accelerated examination where a patent application has claims determined to be patentable in another patent office, including the six referenced above. In particular, at no cost to the applicant, the USPTO will accelerate the examination of nonprovisional applications when allowed claim(s) “sufficiently correspond” to those in the application before the USPTO, so long as the examination has not begun. This claim correspondence requirement, which is intended to ensure that the examination in the foreign patent office is representative of the claim’s allowability, requires that the claims are “of the same or similar scope” as those in the allowed application.

Although this two-tiered approach is unlikely to completely replace the benefits of the Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program, it may appeal to many applicants. For one, this approach may not require additional costs for applicants already likely to file in any of the above-referenced countries. It’s simply a shift in mindset to prioritize foreign applications to leverage results in the U.S. Second, once favorable results are achieved in another patent office, the PPH offers an approach with expedited examination without additional fees beyond the basic filing fees, regardless of the type of technology at issue.

As industries worldwide push toward more sustainable and efficient operations, cleantech innovations are crucial in reshaping manufacturing. From advanced nuclear and fusion energy solutions to new materials and energy-efficient processes, companies are making significant strides toward reducing emissions and improving sustainability. With ongoing investment, research, and regulatory support, the future of cleantech in manufacturing looks promising. As these technologies evolve, manufacturers that embrace innovation will be well-positioned to lead the transition to a cleaner, more resilient industrial landscape.

About the Authors:

Ryan J. Schermerhorn is a partner and registered patent attorney with the intellectual property law firm Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP.

Christopher Zahn is a patent agent at Marshall Gerstein.

Read more from the authors:

https://www.marshallip.com/ryan-j-schermerhorn/insights/ and

https://www.marshallip.com/christopher-topher-zahn/.

DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice or a substitute for obtaining legal advice from an attorney. Views expressed are those of the author and are not to be attributed to Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP or any of its former, present, or future clients.

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