A Better Newspaper

## Overview The Patent Friction Index (PFI) is a new benchmarking tool from Red Tape Index (RTI), a project of regulatory intelligence platform Labrynth, that ranks patent offices on price, speed, and openness of their patent systems (IPWatchdog, August 13). Its inaugural edition placed the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) below every peer office measured, assigning the US a composite score of -42.62 (IPWatchdog, August 13). The negative score reportedly persisted "under every alternative scoring rule tested," suggesting a robust methodological finding rather than an artifact of a single scoring choice (IPWatchdog, August 13). ## Significance This index arrives amid a broader pattern of scrutiny over US patent system competitiveness, including ongoing debates about obviousness-type double patenting doctrine, USPTO SMED guidance, and PTAB institution rate declines that have been previously tracked. A last-place ranking among peer offices on price, speed, and openness feeds directly into narratives about US patent competitiveness erosion and could be cited by litigants, policymakers, and IP strategists as evidence of systemic friction in the American patent system. ## Why It Matters For attorneys and entrepreneurs navigating patent strategy, an index like this could become a recurring reference point in policy debates, USPTO reform advocacy, and comparative filing-strategy decisions (e.g., whether to prioritize other jurisdictions). If adopted by industry groups or cited in legislative testimony, the PFI could gain outsized influence on USPTO funding and reform discussions despite being a new and unproven measurement tool. ## Key Entities - **Red Tape Index (RTI)**: The regulatory intelligence platform's project responsible for publishing the index. - **Labrynth**: The regulatory intelligence platform that operates RTI. - **USPTO**: The subject of the ranking, scoring last among five peer offices measured. ## Open Questions - Which four peer offices were used for comparison, and what specific metrics drove the score gap? - Will the USPTO or US IP policymakers respond publicly to the ranking? - Will the index be updated periodically, allowing trend tracking over time?