Innovation and startups will go under.

The push for greater innovation and automation of scientific study will lead to a greater number of patent applications than expected, and this is a great concern for the U.S. and world economies.

Schultz & Madigan's article explains the negative repercussions that a country would face with an excessive delay caused by a patent backlog. Their research expressly discusses three of these repercussions: (1) delay hurts entrepreneurs; (2) delay hurts consumers by delaying access to products; and (3) delay hurts society. 18

For the first, startups are generally a "risky proposition," and a patent can determine a substantial number of business decisions. 19 They cite research performed within the Thomas Edison Innovation Fellowship that "every year of delay reduces the startup's employment and sales growth over the five years following its eventual approval by 21% and 28%, respectively." 20 And, for every year of delay, "the startup's chances of going public are reduced by half." 21 Therefore, patent delay and pendency is a direct indicator of a country's support of entrepreneurs; the greater the patent application delay, the less a country supports entrepreneurs.

For the second, a patent delay also means product delay. Whether a lifesaving drug or beneficial technology, there has been a demonstrated link between weak patent protection and delayed availability of drugs. 22 And this same link is also shown in high-tech products and patent rights. 23

For the third, a patent delay can impose "social costs." 24 These costs include "lost jobs, lost products, and lost innovation." 25 The UK Intellectual Property Office produced a report estimating the annual combined losses of backlog in the USPTO, Japan Patent Office, and the European Patent Office. They discovered that the backlog costs the global economy more than $10 billion a year. 26