An Overview of USPTO Operations · 16/02/2012 · 5 Prioritized examination Changes to Implement Prioritized Examination Track (Track I) of the Enhanced Examination Timing Control

An Overview of

USPTO Operations

David J. Kappos

Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

America Invents Act (AIA) 12 Month Timeline

2 4/3/2012

Implemented Provisions (Effective on September 16, 2011 or within 60 days)

AIA Provision Implementation Documents

1 Change in inter partes

reexamination standard

Revision of Standard for Granting an Inter Partes Reexamination Request, 76 Fed. Reg.

59055 (Sept. 23, 2011)

2 Tax strategies are deemed

within the prior art

Memo to Examiners, Sept. 20, 2011

3 Best mode Memo to Examiners, Sept. 20, 2011

4 Human organism prohibition Memo to Examiners, Sept. 20, 2011

5 Prioritized examination

Changes to Implement Prioritized Examination Track (Track I) of the Enhanced

Examination Timing Control Procedures Under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, 76

Fed. Reg. 59050 (Sept. 23, 2011)

6 15% transition surcharge

Notice of Availability of Patent Fee Changes Under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act,

76 Fed. Reg. 59115 (Sept. 23, 2011)

7 Electronic filing incentive

Notice of Availability of Patent Fee Changes Under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act,

76 Fed. Reg. 59115 (Sept. 23, 2011); and Fee for Filing a Patent Application Other than

by the Electronic System, 79 Fed. Reg. 70651 (Nov. 15, 2011)

3 4/3/2012

4

Track I Statistics

Petitions

Filed

Days to

Petition

Decision

% Petitions

Granted

Days from

Petition to first

Office action

Number of

Track I

Applications

2,124 44.6 99% 36

Examination

Status

First Action

on Merits

mailed

Final

Dispositions

mailed

Allowances

Mailed

Number of Track I

applications 991 3 59

4/3/2012

Proposed Rules in Progress (12 Month timeline)

4/3/2012 5

NPRMs Published as of

January 25, 2012

NPRMs Published

Last Week

Inventor’s oath / declaration Inter partes review

Third party submission of prior art

in a patent application

Post grant review

Citation of prior art in a patent file Transitional program for covered

business method patents

OED Statute of Limitations Derivation

Supplemental examination

AIA Micro-Site

6 http://www.uspto.gov/AmericaInventsAct

USPTO’s website devoted to America Invents Act legislation

• One-stop shopping for all America Invents Act information

• Full text of bill and summary documents, including legislative

history

• Implementation plans

• Announcements

• Points of contact

4/3/2012

http://www.uspto.gov/americainventsact

http://www.uspto.gov/americainventsact

Fee Setting 17 Month Timeline

4/3/2012 7

AIA Roadshows and Hearings www.uspto.gov/AmericaInventsAct

4/3/2012 8

http://www.uspto.gov/aia_implementation/blog.jsp

Elijah J. McCoy Satellite Office

Detroit, MI

• Scheduled: July 2012

• 100 ‘IP Experienced’ Patent

Examiners to be hired in first

year of operation

• Office will have a Board of

Patent Appeals Presence

• 1 of 3 planned Satellite Offices

4/3/2012 9

Applications Awaiting First Action

FY 2009 – FY 2012 (through January)

610,000

620,000

630,000

640,000

650,000

660,000

670,000

680,000

690,000

700,000

710,000

720,000

730,000

740,000

750,000

760,000

770,000

Applic

atio

ns A

waiti

ng F

irst A

ctio

n

Backlog

Preliminary FY 2012 Target:

621,800

658,647 as of February 6th.

4/3/2012 10

0

25,000

50,000

75,000

100,000

125,000

150,000

175,000

200,000

225,000

250,000

275,000

300,000

325,000

350,000

375,000

400,000

425,000

450,000

475,000

500,000

525,000

550,000

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Ap

plicati

on

s

Fiscal Year

Total UPR and RCE Filings

FY 2001 – FY 2012 (projections)

Preliminary FY 2012 Target:

533,300

FY 12 data are

projections.

4/3/2012 11

RCE Backlog


0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

RC

E A

pplic

atio

ns A

waiti

ng N

ext

Actio

n

RCE Backlog

RCE Backlog 80,608 as of February 6th.

4/3/2012 12

First Action Pendency &Total Pendency


10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

18.0

20.0

22.0

24.0

26.0

28.0

30.0

32.0

34.0

36.0

38.0

40.0

10/0

8

11/0

8

12/0

8

01/0

9

02/0

9

03/0

9

04/0

9

05/0

9

06/0

9

07/0

9

08/0

9

09/0

9

10/0

9

11/0

9

12/0

9

01/1

0

02/1

0

03/1

0

04/1

0

05/1

0

06/1

0

07/1

0

08/1

0

09/1

0

10/1

0

11/1

0

12/1

0

01/1

1

02/1

1

03/1

1

04/1

1

05/1

1

06/1

1

07/1

1

08/1

1

09/1

1

10/1

1

11/1

1

12/1

1

01/1

2

Mo

nth

s

First Action Pendency Total Pendency

Preliminary FY 2012 First action Target:

22.5 Months

Preliminary FY 2012 Total Pendency Target:

34.7 Months

4/3/2012 13

10.0

12.0

14.0

16.0

18.0

20.0

22.0

24.0

26.0

28.0

30.0

32.0

10/0

8

11/0

8

12/0

8

01/0

9

02/0

9

03/0

9

04/0

9

05/0

9

06/0

9

07/0

9

08/0

9

09/0

9

10/0

9

11/0

9

12/0

9

01/1

0

02/1

0

03/1

0

04/1

0

05/1

0

06/1

0

07/1

0

08/1

0

09/1

0

10/1

0

11/1

0

12/1

0

01/1

1

02/1

1

03/1

1

04/1

1

05/1

1

06/1

1

07/1

1

08/1

1

09/1

1

10/1

1

11/1

1

12/1

1

Mo

nth

sForward Looking First Action Pendency


Forward Looking Pendency represents an estimate of the average number of months it would take to complete a first

Office action under current and projected workload and resource levels for an application filed at the given date.

4/3/2012 14

Interview Time

FY 2008 – FY 2012 (through December)

43,486 hours as of January 14th, 2012, compared with 38,531 hours as of January 14th, 2011.

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

90,000

100,000

110,000

120,000

130,000

140,000

150,000

160,000

170,000

October November December January February March April May June July August September

Ho

urs

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

4/3/2012 15

0

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

10,000

11,000

12,000

13,000

14,000

15,000

16,000

17,000

18,000

19,000

20,000

21,000

22,000

23,000

24,000

25,000

13

15

17

19

21

23

25

27

29

31

33

35

37

39

41

43

45

47

49

51

53

55

57

59

Nu

mb

er

of

Ap

pli

ca

tio

ns

Months

Distribution of Corps Backlog (Tail)

Tail Cases Remaining Tail Cases Worked

FY 2012 COPA Backlog (Tail): Applications with filing dates on or before September 1st, 2010 (304,000 on Oct. 1, 2011)

FY 2012 Goal: Reduce COPA Backlog (Tail) by 260,000 applications

207,206

Total Tail Cases

Remaining

FY2012 Goal:

260,000 Cases

96,794

Tail Cases

Worked

163,206 Tail Cases

Needed for Goal

Clearing the Oldest Patent Applications

COPA 2.0 - FY 2012 (through January)

4/3/2012 16

Actions Per Disposal Target Sustained decrease in actions per disposal is a positive indicator – issues are being resolved efficiently.

12 Month Rolling Average Actions Per Disposal, by

Bi-Week FY 2009 – FY 2012 (through January 28th)

1.8

1.9

2.0

2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.8

2.9

3.0

10

/11

/200

8

11

/8/2

008

12

/6/2

008

1/3

/200

9

1/3

1/2

009

2/2

8/2

009

3/2

8/2

009

4/2

5/2

009

5/2

3/2

009

6/2

0/2

009

7/1

8/2

009

8/1

5/2

009

9/1

2/2

009

10

/10

/200

9

11

/7/2

009

12

/5/2

009

1/2

/201

0

1/3

0/2

010

2/2

7/2

010

3/2

7/2

010

4/2

4/2

010

5/2

2/2

010

6/1

9/2

010

7/1

7/2

010

8/1

4/2

010

9/1

1/2

010

10

/9/2

010

11

/6/2

010

12

/4/2

010

1/1

/201

1

1/2

9/2

011

2/2

6/2

011

3/2

6/2

011

4/2

3/2

011

5/2

1/2

011

6/1

8/2

011

7/1

6/2

011

8/1

3/2

011

9/1

0/2

011

10

/8/2

011

11

/5/2

011

12

/3/2

011

12

/31

/201

1

01

/28

//1

2

4/3/2012 17

Sustained increase in allowance rate is a positive indicator – it shows increased efficiency of the workforce.

12 Month Rolling Average Allowance Rate, by Bi-

Week FY 2009 – FY 2012 (through January 28th)

40.0%

41.0%

42.0%

43.0%

44.0%

45.0%

46.0%

47.0%

48.0%

49.0%

50.0%

10/1

1/2

008

11/8

/2008

12/6

/2008

1/3

/2009

1/3

1/2

009

2/2

8/2

009

3/2

8/2

009

4/2

5/2

009

5/2

3/2

009

6/2

0/2

009

7/1

8/2

009

8/1

5/2

009

9/1

2/2

009

10/1

0/2

009

11/7

/2009

12/5

/2009

1/2

/2010

1/3

0/2

010

2/2

7/2

010

3/2

7/2

010

4/2

4/2

010

5/2

2/2

010

6/1

9/2

010

7/1

7/2

010

8/1

4/2

010

9/1

1/2

010

10/9

/2010

11/6

/2010

12/4

/2010

1/1

/2011

1/2

9/2

011

2/2

6/2

011

3/2

6/2

011

4/2

3/2

011

5/2

1/2

011

6/1

8/2

011

0716/1

1

8/1

3/2

011

9/1

0/2

011

10/8

/2011

11/5

/2011

12/3

/2011

12/3

1/2

011

Allowance Rate

4/3/2012 18

Central Re-examination Unit (CRU)

4/3/2012 19

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

Mo

nth

s

To

tal R

ee

xa

m F

ilin

gs

Reexam Filings and Time to Certificate

Total Reexam Filings

Time From Filing to Cert (Avg Months, last Qtr of FY)

• Significant decline in pendency: Increased staffing; Pilot program for waiving

the statement period; Streamlined process for handling petitions and

publication of certificates

Board of Patent Appeals &

Interferences

4/3/2012 20

*Aggressive

hiring to tackle

BPAI backlog

80.0%

81.0%

82.0%

83.0%

84.0%

85.0%

86.0%

87.0%

88.0%

89.0%

90.0%

91.0%

92.0%

93.0%

94.0%

95.0%

96.0%

97.0%

98.0%

99.0%

100.0%

FY09Q1 FY09Q2 FY09Q3 FY09Q4 FY10Q1 FY10Q2 FY10Q3 FY10Q4 FY11Q1 FY11Q2 FY11Q3 FY11Q4 FY12-Nov

FY12-Dec

FY12-Jan

Pe

rce

nt

Final Disposition Compliance Rate In-Process Compliance Rate Quality Index Reporting

Quality Measures

Final Disposition, In-Process and QIR

12 Month Rolling Average


2012 Final Disposition Compliance Rate Target Range

(95.6% - 96.7%). Actual as of January: 95.9%

2012 In-Process Compliance Rate Target Range


2012 Quality Index Reporting Target Range


4/3/2012 21

Quality Measures

4/3/2012 22

0255075

100125150175200225250275300325350375400425450475500525550

12/0901/1002/1003/1004/1005/1006/1007/1008/1009/1010/1011/1012/1001/1102/1103/1104/1105/1106/1107/1108/1109/1110/1111/1112/11 1/12

Awaiting Decision Requests Granted Requests Dismissed Requests Denied Petitions Received

R e que st S umma ry 12 /0 9 1/10 2 /10 3 /10 4 /10 0 5 /10 0 6 /10 0 7 /10 0 8 /10 0 9 /10 10 /10 11/10 12 /10 0 1/11 0 2 /11 0 3 /11 0 4 /11 0 5 /11 0 6 /11 0 7 /11 0 8 /11 0 9 /11 10 /11 11/11 12 /11 1/12 Tot a l

P e t it ions R e c e ive d 3 2 5 3 5 1 12 4 7 6 6 7 7 2 2 3 4 13 3 9 5 8 6 3 2 16 6 3 4 0 2 8 7 16 5 5 4 8 15 0 2 7 6 2 16 16 2 15 1 14 5 2 9 1 2 0 2 2 0 1 2 0 2 5 ,3 6 4

Await ing Dec ision (by month) 316 541 138 68 58 77 147 42 42 56 51 107 256 220 224 310 327 285 272 282 244 252 325 357 345 382

Requests Granted (by month) 2 12 209 67 45 38 98 180 65 48 26 81 122 222 117 263 86 237 167 116 206 111 156 128 308 134 3,244

Requests Denied (by month) 7 0 2 29 18 7 30 28 14 11 6 1 0 10 9 23 14 14 9 0 3 0 7 0 11 4 257

Requests Dismissed (by month) 0 121 316 43 14 8 36 30 16 13 5 28 69 91 35 176 33 67 53 41 65 32 55 42 65 27 1,481

G re e n Te c hnolog ie s P ilo t

Green Technologies Pilot

December 2009 – January 31st, 2012

Average time from petition grant to final

disposition: 271 days

Shortest time from petition grant to final


Longest time from petition grant to final


4/3/2012 23

Current Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)

Programs

Japan (JPO)

Korea (KIPO)

China (SIPO)

European Patent Office (EPO)

Germany (DPMA)

Australia (IPAU)

Canada (CIPO)

United Kingdom (UKIPO)

Denmark (DKPTO)

Iceland (IPO)

Norway (NIPO)

Nordic Patent Institute (NPI)

Finland (NBPR)

Sweden (PRV)

Russia (Rospatent)

Israel (ILPO)

Taiwan (TIPO)

Hungary (HPO)

Spain (SPTO)

Austria (APO)

Singapore (IPOS)

Mexico (IMPI)

4/3/2012 24

PPH Requests at USPTO

• USPTO goal for PPH requests in calendar year 2011: 8,000

• Status as of January 31:

Paris-PPH 6,537

PCT-PPH 2,800

Total 9,337

Paris-PPH PCT-PPH All Cases

Grant Rate

(Allowances/Total

Number of Disposals)

89% 96% 47%

Actions per Disposal 2.13 1.61 2.49

• PPH results compared with all cases:

4/3/2012 25

Cooperative Patent

Classification (CPC)

CPC Milestone Timeframe

Introduction to CPC for all examiners. 2012

Develop Examiner Training with EPO. 2012-2014

Contractors apply CPC symbols to PGPUB pipeline documents. January 1, 2013

USPC and CPC symbols will be searchable in EAST/WEST, while

routing remains based on USPC.

2013

CPC symbols will propagate from PGPUB to Grants 2013

Examiners will begin to add CPC symbols as needed on issued

applications, with voluntary search capability of CPC symbols in

EAST/WEST.

2013-2014

Final stage of CPC implementation. 2015

4/3/2012 26

Trademark Performance:

Application Filings

• FY 2010: 368,939

classes

• FY 2011: 398,667

classes

• FY 2012 : projected

413,000 classes

-

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

400,000

450,000

FY

200

2

FY

200

3

FY

200

4

FY

200

5

FY

200

6

FY

200

7

FY

200

8

FY

200

9

FY

201

0

FY

201

1

FY

201

2

4/3/2012 27

Trademark Performance:

Quality

FIRST ACTION COMPLIANCE In-process review evaluation of the statutory bases for

which the Office raises issues and or refuses marks for

registration based on the first office action.

95.5% 94.1%*

FINAL ACTION COMPLIANCE In-process review evaluation of the statutory bases for

which the Office raises issues and or refuses marks for

registration based on the examiner’s approval or denial

of the application.

97.0% 96.4%*

EXCELLENT OFFICE ACTION New measure for FY 2011 indicating the comprehensive

quality of the first Office action search, evidence, writing

and decision making.

20.0% 22.1%

FY 2011

Trademark Performance Measures

FY 2012

Targets

FY 2012

Q1

Results

*Preliminary Numbers

4/3/2012 28

New TM Performance Measure:

Excellent Office Actions

Criteria for Excellence*

1. Correctness in decision making

2. Quality of the search

3. Quality and relevance of evidence

4. Clarity of the written Office Action

*Office action must meet all 4 criteria to be

considered excellent

4/3/2012 29

Trademarks Next Generation

30

Patents End-to-End (PE2E)

• IT Overhaul for the 21st Century

• Dynamic views of drawings, claims, and annotations

• Greater Examination & Agency Efficiency

4/3/2012 32

MPEP

TMEP

IdeaScale Links

4/3/2012 34

eP

eti

tio

ns

http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/epetition-info.jsp

35




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