The Case for an Open Source Patent Search System

Something important happened at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) last month, and it did not get nearly the attention it deserved. The Office rolled out its Artificial Intelligence Search Automated Pilot (ASAP) Program, and for the first time, AI is now part of the pre-examination process, rather than operating around it.

Given where things stand, this move almost feels inevitable. Filings keep climbing, examiners are stretched thin, and first office action pendency  reached an all-time high of 22.6 months in FY 2025. Anyone who has spent time in prosecution knows the system needs help. AI can absolutely make the early search phase faster and more consistent.

The use of AI in patent examination offers a powerful opportunity to improve quality, consistency and efficiency. Like any new technology, it will take time to refine but given the vital role patents play in driving the nation’s innovation engine, achieving a strong and trustworthy solution should be a priority.

Proprietary systems make this goal more difficult. When the underlying technology is closed, outside experts and the public cannot analyze how it works or contribute to its improvement. Progress then depends solely on the vendor and the patent office, reducing transparency and limiting collaboration.

An open-source approach offers a better path forward. It allows broader participation, shared learning, and public confidence in how the technology functions. Once AI begins influencing what examiners see first, the key question is no longer whether the system works, but whether anyone outside it can understand how it works.

Open source solutions such as PQAI already demonstrate that transparency and accountability can coexist with technical sophistication. When AI becomes part of the patent examination process, these qualities are not optional; they are essential.

Why Open Source Matters

Transparency Builds Trust

The credibility of the patent system depends on public confidence that examination decisions are objective and based on merit. When AI is used to prioritize or filter search results, transparency becomes essential.

Open source systems allow independent experts, academics, and even applicants to understand how algorithms process data and identify prior art. This openness strengthens trust in both the tool and the office that uses it. Without visibility, even accurate systems risk public skepticism and resistance.

Collaboration Accelerates Improvement

An open-source approach invites collaboration among government, academia, and industry. Researchers can experiment with model variations while corporations and patent professionals can contribute real-world feedback.

This shared ecosystem accelerates technical improvement and ensures the tools evolve with the needs of examiners and applicants. Proprietary systems, in contrast, centralize innovation within a single vendor relationship and slow the pace of advancement.

Efficiency and Cost-Effectiveness

Developing government technology as open source reduces duplication of effort and enables collective improvement rather than rebuilding similar systems under multiple contracts. It also reduces long-term vendor dependence, giving the USPTO flexibility to adapt and update the system as new methods emerge.

Building the system as open source creates a foundation for cooperation and technical alignment among patent offices around the world. The initial investment in openness yields long-term savings, resilience, and global impact.

Innovation Through Public Engagement

Open source AI tools can serve as catalysts for education and entrepreneurship. Students, researchers, and startups can study and build upon the code to create new applications in intellectual property analytics, classification, and inventor support.

This fosters a national innovation environment that reflects the USPTO’s broader mission of encouraging creativity, dissemination of knowledge, and technological progress.

How Open Source Software Gives Rise to New Applications in Ways Proprietary Software Cannot

One of the greatest advantages of open source software is that it naturally leads to the creation of entirely new applications that would never emerge from a closed proprietary system. When technology is open, every component can be examined, reused, improved, and adapted by anyone.

This allows the value created by the original investment to flow to the entire public rather than being captured by a single company. When taxpayer dollars support open-source development, the results enrich a broad community of innovators and generate benefits across many sectors of the economy.

There are many well-known examples of open-source projects that produced far more value than their original creators ever imagined. Here is one powerful illustration.

Django, one of the most widely used web frameworks in the world, was originally developed inside a small local newspaper to help publish articles quickly. Because Django was released as open source, its core components, such as the data modeling system, security features, administrative interface, and rapid development framework were adopted and expanded by developers worldwide.

Over time, Django grew far beyond journalism and became the foundation for major global platforms, including Instagram, Pinterest, the Mozilla ecosystem, NASA projects, government information systems, and countless commercial and research applications.

None of this growth would have occurred if Django had remained private to one organization. Open source allowed it to evolve into a public asset that delivered enormous value to society.

This same open-source dynamic is what gives PQAI its potential. A public investment in PQAI will not only create a powerful prior art search tool. It will also produce a foundation for many future applications that can expand far beyond the original purpose and deliver significant value to the wider public.

A Defining Moment

The USPTO stands at a defining moment. AI will reshape how patents are examined, but the manner in which it is deployed will determine whether that transformation strengthens or weakens public confidence. Open-source development offers the most responsible path forward. It invites collaboration, ensures transparency, and transforms public investment into public value.

By choosing openness, the USPTO can not only modernize its examination process but also lead a global example of how governments can use AI responsibly. In doing so, the agency would help secure the integrity of the patent system and strengthen the innovation engine that drives the American economy.

Image Source: Deposit Photos
Image ID:39072457
Copyright:iqoncept