patent public advisory committee quarterly meeting€¦ · 08/11/2018 · patent public advisory...
TRANSCRIPT
Patent Public Advisory Committee
Quarterly Meeting
FY18 End of Year Stats Review
Jerry Lorengo
Director, Technology Center 3700
November 8, 2018
Key Points of Interest
• FY 2018 4th Quarter Statistics– First Action Pendency was 15.8 months
• Compared to 16.3 months in FY 2017
• First action pendency goal was 15.4 months
– Total Pendency was 23.8 months• Lower than FY 2017 which was 24.2 months
• Total pendency goal was 25 months
• Serialized growth rate is 1.7%
• Attrition rate continues to be low (3.97%)
Analysis and Discussion
FY 2018 Pendency
• First action pendency reduced from 16.3
months at beginning of FY18 to 15.8 months at
end of FY18
• Total pendency fell from 24.2 to 23.8 months
• Reduced despite 1.7% filing growth
FY 2018 Filing Trends
• Serialized filings increased by 1.7% – Slightly higher than projected
• Compared to .3% growth last year
– Planned 1.5% growth
– In line with both model forecast and recent trends
• RCE filings were down 7.7%– Compared to 3.8% decrease in FY17
– Decrease was expected
– Less rework is positive
• Design filings increased by 3.7%
• Provisional filings were up 1.2%– Compared to the .3% decrease last year
Examiner Attrition
• FY 2018 examiner attrition rate was 3.97%– Compared to 4.1% attrition rate last year
– Excluding Transfers and Retirees 2.8%
– Excluding Transfers 3.7%
• Attrition Percentages by years of service: – 22.9% for those with less than 1 year of service
– 7.6% and under by the 3rd year of service
– 2.6% and under with more than 10 years of service
• Highest attrition rate continues to be among new examiners
Variations from Estimates
• Higher than expected serial filings
• Lower than expected RCE filings
• Lower overtime usage
• Reduction in productivity
– Lower promotion rates
– Lower award achievement
Track One
• Granted 9506 Track 1 requests in FY18
• Pendency continues to be extremely low– Average time from Filing to Petition grant:
1.5 months
– Average time from petition grant to first action: 1.7 months
– Average time from petition grant to final disposition: 7.1 months
PTA Performance• On average, 56% of first actions are being completed later than 14
months from filing – Poorest performing category
• Steady with FY17
• Performance in the 4/4/4 categories has historically been fairly good – FY18 Q4, the Corps averages were:
• Amendments 11.3% – Compared to 6.7% in FY17
• Appeal decisions 2.6% – Just under 1% decrease from 3.5% in FY17
• Issues 1.4% – Slight decrease from 1.5% in FY17
• Currently, approximately 16% of issues exceed 36 months total PTA pendency– 1% decrease from 17% in FY17
– Will decline further along with overall average pendency
PTAB Results
• Overall affirmance rate of 60% for FY18
– 4% increase from 56% in FY17
– Additional 10% affirmed-in-part
• 12% in FY17
– Tech center rates range from 43% (3700) to
76% (3600)
• Consistent with last years results
Supporting Data
Historical PTA Results – First Actions
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
2002-1
0
2003-0
4
2003-1
0
2004-0
4
2004-1
0
2005-0
4
2005-1
0
2006-0
4
2006-1
0
2007-0
4
2007-1
0
2008-0
4
2008-1
0
2009-0
4
2009-1
0
2010-0
4
2010-1
0
2011-0
4
2011-1
0
2012-0
4
2012-1
0
2013-0
4
2013-1
0
2014-0
4
2014/1
0
2015/0
4
2015/1
0
2016/0
4
2016/1
0
2017/0
4
2017/1
0
2018/0
4
First Actions - % over 14 Months
Historical PTA Results – Amendments
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Responses to Amendments - % Over 4 Months
Responses to Amendment - % over 4 Months
Historical PTA Results – PTAB
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%20
02
-10
200
3-0
6
200
4-0
2
200
4-1
0
200
5-0
6
200
6-0
2
200
6-1
0
200
7-0
6
200
8-0
2
200
8-1
0
200
9-0
6
201
0-0
2
201
0-1
0
201
1-0
6
201
2-0
2
201
2-1
0
201
3-0
6
201
4-0
2
201
4-1
0
201
5-0
6
201
6-0
2
201
6-1
0
201
7-0
9
201
8-0
5
Actions after Appeal Decisions - % Over 4 Months
Actions after PTAB Decision - % over 4 Months
Historical PTA Results – Issues
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
30.0%
35.0%
40.0%
Issues - % Over 4 Months
Issues after Payment of Issue Fee - % over 4 Months
Historical PTA Results – Total Pendency
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Issues - % over 36 Months
Unexamined Patent Application Inventory FY2011 – FY2018 Q4
500,000
550,000
600,000
650,000
700,000
750,000
FY11-Q1
FY11-Q2
FY11-Q3
FY11-Q4
FY12-Q1
FY12-Q2
FY12-Q3
FY12-Q4
FY13-Q1
FY13-Q2
FY13-Q3
FY13-Q4
FY14-Q1
FY14-Q2
FY14-Q3
FY14-Q4
FY15-Q1
FY15-Q2
FY15-Q3
FY15-Q4
FY16-Q1
FY16-Q2
FY16-Q3
FY16-Q4
FY17-Q1
FY17-Q2
FY17-Q3
FY17-Q4
FY18-Q1
FY18-Q2
FY18-Q3
31-Jul
FY18 Q4 - 522,149 Unexamined Applications
RCE InventoryFY 2010 – FY 2018 Q
0
20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
10/0
9
01/1
0
04/1
0
07/1
0
10/1
0
01/1
1
04/1
1
07/1
1
10/1
1
01/1
2
04/1
2
07/1
2
10/1
2
01/1
3
04/1
3
07/1
3
10/1
3
01/1
4
04/1
4
07/1
4
10/1
4
01/1
5
04/1
5
07/1
5
10/1
5
01/1
6
04/1
6
07/1
6
01/1
7
09/1
7
06/1
8
Month/YearFY18 Q4 RCE Inventory
20,297
First Action Pendency and Total PendencyFY 2011 – FY 2018 Q4
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0FY
11-Q
4
FY
12-Q
1
FY
12-Q
2
FY
12-Q
3
FY
12-Q
4
FY
13-Q
1
FY
13-Q
2
FY
13-Q
3
FY
13-Q
4
FY
14-Q
1
FY
14-Q
2
FY
14-Q
3
FY
14-Q
4
FY
15-Q
1
FY
15-Q
2
FY
15-Q
3
FY
15-Q
4
FY
16-Q
1
FY
16-Q
2
FY
16-Q
3
FY
16-Q
4
FY
17-Q
1
FY
17-Q
2
FY
17-Q
3
FY
17-Q
4
FY
18 Q
1
FY
18 Q
2
FY
18 Q
3
FY
18 Q
4
First Action Pendency Total Pendency
First Action Pendency 15.8
Total Pendency 23.8
Pendency from RCE to Next Action
0.5
1.5
2.5
3.5
4.5
5.5
6.5
7.5
8.5
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Mo
nth
s to
Next
Act
ion
12-Month Average UPR Examiner Attrition Rate Less Transfers and Retirees and Overall Attrition RateFY 2001 – FY 2018 Q4
0.00%
2.00%
4.00%
6.00%
8.00%
10.00%
12.00%
Attrition Rate Less Transfers and Retirees Overall Attrition Rate
12-Month Attrition Rate Less Transfers and Retirees 2.77%
12-Month Overall Attrition Rate: 3.97%
12-Month Average UPR Examiner Attrition Rate Less Transfers and Retirees and Overall Attrition RateFY 2018 Q4
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
<1 =>1 <
2
=>2
<3
=>3
<4
=>4
<5
=>5
<6
=>6
<7
=>7
<8
=>8
<9
>=9
<10
=>10
<11
=>11
<12
=>12
<13
=>13
<14
=>14
<15
>15
Attritions Attrits as % of Avg. Staff
Nu
mb
er
of
Att
riti
on
s
Att
riti
on
s R
ate
12-Month Average UPR Examiner Attrition Rate Less Transfers and Overall Attrition RateFY 2018 Q4
0.0%
5.0%
10.0%
15.0%
20.0%
25.0%
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
<1 =>1 <
2
=>2
<3
=>3
<4
=>4
<5
=>5
<6
=>6
<7
=>7
<8
=>8
<9
>=9
<10
=>10
<11
=>11
<12
=>12
<13
=>13
<14
=>14
<15
>15
Attritions Attrits as % of Avg. Staff
Nu
mb
er
of
Att
riti
on
s
Att
riti
on
s R
ate
Serialized and RCE Filings FY 2010 – FY 2018 Q4
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
300000
350000
400000
450000
500000
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Serialized Filings
Ap
plica
tio
ns
FY18 Q4: Serialized Filings 426,954
RCE Filings 170,760
Track One Filings
TC 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Total
1600 39 576 813 1120 1215 1286 1367 1460 7876
1700 9 266 420 569 678 674 819 792 4227
2100 188 502 672 821 789 1134 755 765 5626
2400 161 704 939 1194 1136 1190 887 956 7167
2600 167 650 714 861 920 944 843 937 6036
2800 33 352 561 846 873 1196 941 891 5693
3600 88 782 1091 1637 1622 1406 1346 1696 9668
3700 149 715 1075 1469 1557 1640 1582 1657 9844
Other/none 2 4 5 8 6 10 4 10 49
Grand Total 836 4551 6290 8525 8796 9480 8544 9164 56186
Design Filings FY 2010 – FY 2018 Q4
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
45000
50000
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Ap
plica
tio
ns
FY18 Q4 Design Filings 45,708
Design Unexamined Application Inventory FY2011 – FY2018 Q4
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000
50,000
FY11-Q1
FY11-Q2
FY11-Q3
FY11-Q4
FY12-Q1
FY12-Q2
FY12-Q3
FY12-Q4
FY13-Q1
FY13-Q2
FY13-Q3
FY13-Q4
FY14-Q1
FY14-Q2
FY14-Q3
FY14-Q4
FY15-Q1
FY15-Q2
FY15-Q3
FY15-Q4
FY16-Q1
FY16-Q2
FY16-Q3
FY16-Q4
FY17-Q1
FY17-Q2
FY17-Q3
FY17-Q4
FY18-Q1
FY18-Q2
FY18-Q3
FY18-Q4
FY18 Q4 Unexamined 45,567
Ap
plica
tio
ns
Design First Action Pendency and Total PendencyFY 2011 – FY 2018 Q4
5.0
7.0
9.0
11.0
13.0
15.0
17.0
19.0
21.0
FY11-Q
4
FY12-Q
1
FY12-Q
2
FY12-Q
3
FY12-Q
4
FY13-Q
1
FY13-Q
2
FY13-Q
3
FY13-Q
4
FY14-Q
1
FY14-Q
2
FY14-Q
3
FY14-Q
4
FY15-Q
1
FY15-Q
2
FY15-Q
3
FY15-Q
4
FY16-Q
1
FY16-Q
2
FY16-Q
3
FY16-Q
4
FY17-Q
1
FY17-Q
2
FY17-Q
3
FY17-Q
4
FY18 Q
1
FY18 Q
2
FY18 Q
3
FY18 Q
4
Design First Action Pendency Design Total Pendency
Total Pendency: 18.9 months
First Action Pendency: 13.1 months
Mo
nth
s
FY18 Appeal Results by Tech Center
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
1600 1700 2100 2400 2600 2800 3600 3700 3900 Total
% AFFIRMED FY18 Q4 BY TECH CENTER
Impact of Appeal Conference on Appeal Results
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Appeal Conference Results and PTAB Results by Date of Answer
PTAB Decision - Examiner Affirmed Percent of Briefs Proceeding to PTAB
Questions and Comments
Jerry Lorengo
Director, Technology Center 3700
(571) 272-4390
