At the end of each fiscal year, the USPTO releases a Performance and Accountability Report,  which is loaded with data about patent and trademark allowance rates, average pendency, and other details. The USPTO recently released its Performance and Accountability Report for Fiscal Year  2014. This means that it's time for IP Spotlight's annual review of the question:  "how long does it take to receive a patent or trademark registration?"

To answer that question, here are a few highlights from the USPTO's 2014 report:

Patents:  After several years of steep reductions in patent application pendency, the USPTO's efforts appeared to plateau in fiscal year (FY) 2014. The average time between filing and first office action was 18.4 months, which was slightly above FY 2013's average of 18.2 months. The USPTO fared better in reducing average total pendency from 29.1 months in FY 2013 to 27.4 months in FY 2014, but this was still short of the USPTO's goal of 26.7 months.

The USPTO acknowledged that it faces challenges in continuing to reduce pendency. The challenges include the redirection of resources to other initiatives, such as and initiative to reduce the backlog of unexamined Requests for Continued Examination (RCEs), and the development of guidance relating to the changing law relating to patent-eligibility. The USPTO also received more patent applications and granted more patents in FY 2014 than in any previous year.

The pendency rates vary depending on the technology covered by the patent application. For example:

  • applications relating to biotechnology and organic chemistry (USPTO Technology Center 1600) have an average wait time of 15.0 months to first action, and an average total pendency of 26.2 months;
  • applications relating to chemical and materials engineering (USPTO Technology Center 1700) have an average wait time of 19.5 months to first action, and an average total pendency of 28.8 months;
  • applications relating to networking, multiplexing, cable and security (USPTO Technology Center 2400) generally wait 18.6 months to first action, and have an average total pendency of 30.8 months;
  • applications relating to communications technologies (USPTO Technology Center 2600) have an average wait time of 17.8 months to first action, and an average total pendency of 28.7 months; and
  • applications relating to mechanical engineering products (USPTO Technology Center 3700) have an average wait time of 21.3 months to first action, and an average total pendency of 31.1 months.

The total average pendency is highest for applications involving computer architecture, software & information security (USPTO Technology Center 2100), where total pendency averages 31.7 months.

The overall patent allowance rate was 54.4% in FY 2014– a slight decrease from FY 2013's 55.2%.

Other interesting statistics include:

  • The number of appeals filed against final rejections declined by over 10% in FY 2014.
  • The USPTO's efforts to reduce the backlog of RCEs appear to be paying off. The number of unexamined RCEs dropped by over 40% in the past year.

Trademarks:  In FY 2014 the average time from filing to first Office Action in a trademark application was 3.0 months, and the average total pendency was 9.8 months.  These numbers are similar to the statistics for the past three years, and better than the USPTO's goals of 3.5 months to first action and 12.0 months of overall pendency.

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