daphne c. lainson [email protected] smart & biggar/fetherstonhaugh overview of uspto...
TRANSCRIPT
Main Source of USPTO statistics
• USPTO Statistics can be found at http://www.uspto.gov/about/stats/index.jsp
• Includes:• Data Visualization Center – Patents “Dashboard” – monthly
summaries of various statistics• Calendar Year Patent Statistics• Fiscal Year Patent Statistics
• Statistics are generated by the Patent Technology Monitoring Team (PTMT)
• Four Office Statistics Report 2010 (FOSR) can be found at http://www.trilateral.net/statistics.html
• Cooperation of the USPTO, EPO, JPO and KIPO
2
Pendencies (as of October 2011)
3
N.B. These averages are calculated over a three month period
First Office Action Pendency – average time from the filing date to the date a First Office Action is mailed by the USPTO
Current:26.9 months
USPTO target: 10 months by 2015
Total Pendency – average time from filing date to final disposition (i.e. issued or abandoned). Abandonment for the filing of an RCE is treated as a disposition and stops the pendency clock
Current:33.9 months
USPTO target:20 months by 2015
Total Pendency including RCEs – average time from filing date to final disposition, irrespective of any intermediate abandonments due to the filing of a RCE
Current:41 months
No target stated
Pendencies (as of October 2011)
4
N.B. These averages are calculated over a one month period
Total Pendency excluding non RCEs – average time from filing date to ultimate disposal for only those applications for which one or more RCEs were filed. Does not include applications with a Continuation, Continuation-in-part or Divisional in the chain
Current:63.1 months
No target stated
Pendency from RCE to next Office Action – average time from RCE filing to the mailing of next office action
Current:4.5 months
No target stated
Pendencies (as of October 2011)
5
Pendency from filing to Board Decision – average time from filing of application until a decision date of the BPAI. Only includes application for which there was an appeal to the BPAI
Current:81.8 months
No target stated
Pendency of Continuations – average time from filing of earliest parent application to disposal of the last continuation application. Does not include continuation-in-part, divisional or applications with an RCE
Current:80.5 months
No target stated
Pendency of Divisionals – average time from filing date of earliest parent application to disposal of last application in the chain
Current: 81.3 months
No target stated
N.B. First average is calculated over a three month period. The last two averages are calculated over a one month period
Pendency trends (as of October 2011)
6
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
45.0
Pen
den
cy (
mo
nth
s)
1st Office Action Total Total Including RCEs
Pendencies by technology center (as of September 2011)
1st Office Action Pendency (months)
Total Pendency (months)
1600 – Biotechnology and Organic Chemistry 23.8 33.6
1700 – Chemical and Materials Engineering 26.0 34.6
2100 – Computer Architecture, Software, and Information Security
30.9 39.6
2400 – Computer Networks, Multiplex communication, Video Distribution, and Security
33.6 40.7
2600 – Communications 31.4 40.8
2800 – Semiconductors, Electrical and Optical Systems and Components
26.5 29.3
3600 – Transportation, Construction, Electronic, Commerce, Agriculture, National Security and License & Review
26.0 33.6
3700 – Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing, Products 29.6 37.4
7
Pendency trends (as of September 2011)
8
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
45.0
50.0
Oct
-08
Dec
-08
Feb
-09
Apr
-09
Jun-
09
Aug
-09
Oct
-09
Dec
-09
Feb
-10
Apr
-10
Jun-
10
Aug
-10
Oct
-10
Dec
-10
Feb
-11
Apr
-11
Jun-
11
Aug
-11
To
tal
Pen
den
cy (
mo
nth
s) 1600
1700
2100
2400
2600
2800
3600
3700
Pendency trends (as of September 2011)
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
40.0
Oct
-08
Dec
-08
Feb
-09
Apr
-09
Jun-
09
Aug
-09
Oct
-09
Dec
-09
Feb
-10
Apr
-10
Jun-
10
Aug
-10
Oct
-10
Dec
-10
Feb
-11
Apr
-11
Jun-
11
Aug
-11
1st
OA
Pen
den
cy (
mo
nth
s) 1600
1700
2100
2400
2600
2800
3600
3700
9
Miscellaneous USPTO Statistics
10
October 2010
October 2011
Patent Examiners on Staff 6,292 6,664
Average No. of Actions per Disposal (Total actions divided by total disposals including abandonment for purpose of RCE for fiscal year)
2.34 2.49
Application Backlog (applications awaiting First Office Action) 716,428 671,409
Allowance rate (number of applications divided by number of disposals – including abandonment for RCE as disposal)
40.5% 46.7%
Allowance rate excluding RCEs (does not include the abandonment for RCEs as a disposal)
60.0% 64.7%
Number of Utility Patents Granted at the USPTO in 2010
11
N.B. Country of origin is based on first named inventor. Population data based on July 2011 estimates obtained from the CIA World Factbook at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
TOTAL for allcountries
U.S. Japan Germany South Korea Taiwan Canada
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Patent grants by country of origin (left) Patent grants per 100,000 people (right)
Number of Applications for Utility Patents filed at the USPTO in 2010
12
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
TOTAL for allcountries
U.S. Japan Germany South Korea Taiwan Canada
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Applications by country of origin (left) Applications per 100,000 people (right)
N.B. Country of origin is based on first named inventor. Population data based on July 2011 estimates obtained from the CIA World Factbook at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook
Four Office Statistics Report - Highlights
At the end of the year 2009, 85 percent of the 7.3 million patents in force worldwide, were valid in the Four Offices jurisdictions.
13
Four Office Statistics Report - Highlights
Higher number of entries into national phase at the EPO can be partially explained by the unique structure of the EPC and a large number of member states
14
Four Office Statistics Report - Highlights
The value next to the name of each bloc is the proportion of the overall number of distinct referenced priorities for the bloc that generated families using the PCT i.e. it represents the use of the PCT route to generate families at home.
The value next to the arrows shows the share of total patent family flows that used the PCT system i.e. it represents the use of the PCT system to generate patent families abroad.
15
© AIPLA 201216
Thank you.