How Patents Can Support the Original Contributions Criterion for Extraordinary Ability Visas (0-1 and EB-1)

By Amy F

Ever encounter RFEs that challenge the use of patents as evidence for the original contributions of major significance criterion in Extraordinary Ability visas?

In Park’s experience, these patent-specific challenges usually argue one or more of the following:

• Since the patent is assigned to a company, it cannot be clearly associated with the beneficiary’s work.

• Because the candidate is one of several inventors listed, it is not clear that their work constitutes a meaningful contribution.

• There is no evidence that the patented system, methodology, or technology has garnered industry attention or been used in the field.

Addressing these arguments can be tricky, but Park’s industry experts can help. Our experts have detailed experience in responding to all three of the above challenges typically raised by USCIS.

In a recent case, Park’s engineering experts reviewed the citations that a beneficiary’s patent had received. Our expert then used these citations to show how the patented methodology had been implemented, effectively addressing the query posed by USCIS. Our expert also offered a more general explanation as to why a patent’s citation in the intellectual property filings of other companies indicates field-wide recognition of an invention’s originality. In other cases, Park’s expert letters simply outline the basic requirements needed to be granted a patent, which are usually indicative of a methodology, system, or technology’s originality and utility.

Pulling from their extensive experience in a wide range of fields, Park’s experts speak directly to USCIS’s challenges. They can effectively defend how an individual being listed as a “co-inventor” of a patent constitutes significant contribution of major significance. They can highlight why a patent assigned to the beneficiary’s company does not disqualify them from claiming key involvement in the project and rather expand upon their individual contributions.

If you receive an RFE questioning the use of patents as evidence for the original contributions of major significance criterion, Park’s nuanced expert letters can help support your arguments with a carefully crafted industry insight.