USPTO Performance and Accountability Report - U.S. Patent and ...

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
OBJECTIVE 1: Re-engineer patent process
to increase efficiencies and strengthen
effectiveness
The USPTO is realizing benefits from the success of
various initiatives, pilots, and operational improvements.
The agency is moving from a one-track
patent examination process to a multi-track process
by adopting procedures and initiatives that incentivize
abandoning applications that are not
important to applicants; accelerating critical technologies;
permitting an applicant to accelerate
applications; and exploring other incentive and
accelerated examination options. Specific initiatives
include:
Track One
The USPTO launched the AIA-mandated accelerated
examination program (Track One) that allows
patent applications to be processed to completion
in 12 months and offers small businesses a discount
on this option. Since its inception, the agency
received more than 6,000 Track One patent applications,
and more than 2,400 entrepreneurs have
taken advantage of those 50 percent discounts.
The agency completed more than 3,900 first actions
on Track One examinations in an average of 50 days,
mailed over 1,085 allowances, and issued more
than 677 patents.
First Action Interview Pilot Program
The First Action Interview Pilot Program allows participants
to conduct an interview with the examiner as
soon as the prior art search has been conducted.
This program was expanded from a small pilot program
to include additional technical areas, enhance efficiency,
and provide more options to participants.
The program has many benefits including: (1) the
ability to advance prosecution of an application;
(2) enhanced interaction between the applicant and
the examiner; (3) the opportunity to resolve patentability
issues one-on-one with the examiner at the
beginning of the prosecution process and; (4) the
opportunity to facilitate early allowance. The First-Action
Interview Pilot Program notice was originally signed
March 24, 2008. The USPTO launched the Full First
Action Interview Pilot Program on May 16, 2011.
This program expands on the First Action Interview Pilot
PERFORMANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT: FISCAL YEAR 2012
Program by including all utility applications in all technology
areas and filing dates. As with the previous First
Action Interview pilot programs, the applicant is
entitled to a first action interview, upon request, prior
to the first office action on the merits. This pilot has
been extended to run through November 16, 2012.
A total of 3,533 applicants have joined the programs
since April 2008, 870 interviews have been conducted,
and 1,304 of the applications have been allowed.
The program has an overall first action allowance rate
of 29.4 percent as compared with 11.5 percent for all
original non-continuing applications in FY 2012.
After Final Practice and Quick Path IDS (QPIDS)
Pilots
As another part of our ongoing efforts toward
compact prosecution and increased collaboration
between examiners and stakeholders, we recently
announced the start of the After Final Consideration
Pilot (AFCP) and QPIDS pilots. The AFCP allows additional
flexibility for applicants and examiners to work
together in “after final” situations to move applications
toward allowance.
Our QPIDS pilot provides consideration of an Information
Disclosure Statement (IDS) submitted after the
payment of the issue fee without requiring a Request
for Continued Examination (RCE). The objective of
this new pilot program is to reduce the number of
RCEs filed for consideration of an IDS after the issue
fee is paid.
Table 3 below provides the relative cost effectiveness
of the entire patent examination process over time,
or the efficiency with which the organization applies
its resources to production.
TABLE 3 Measure: Total Cost Per
Patent Production Unit
FISCAL YEAR TARGET ACTUAL
Target Met.
2008 $3,982 $3,773
2009 $3,562 $3,523
2010 $3,530 $3,471
2011 $4,041 $3,594
2012 $3,970 $3,617
2013 $4,041
2014 $3,878