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

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
The USPTO’s deferred revenue is the largest liability on
the Balance Sheet. The liability for deferred revenue
is calculated by analyzing the process for completing
each service provided. The percent incomplete
based on the inventory of pending work and completion
status is applied to fee collections to estimate the
amount for deferred revenue liability.
FY 2012 resulted in a decrease to the deferred revenue
liability of $14.9 million, or 1.8 percent from FY 2011.
The deferred revenue liability for FY 2012 includes
unearned patent and trademark fees, as well as undeposited
checks. The unearned patent fees represented
92.0 percent of this liability. During FY 2008, the
deferred revenue liability increased $20.4 million, or
2.5 percent. This increase was followed by decreases
to the deferred revenue liability in FY 2009 and FY 2010,
for a cumulative decrease of $74.1 million, or
8.7 percent. The deferred revenue liability temporarily
increased in FY 2011 by $71.4 million, or 9.2 percent.
The following graph depicts the composition of the
deferred revenue liability, in addition to the change in
this liability during each of the past five years.
Deferred revenue at the USPTO is largely impacted by
the change in patent and trademark filings, changes
in the first action pendency rates, and changes in fee
rates. Increases in patent and trademark filings, first
action pendency rates, and fee rates result in
increases in deferred revenue.
The following table depicts the changes in the filings
and pendencies during the past five years.
In FY 2012, unearned patent fees decreased
2.1 percent, in line with the decrease in first action
pendency of 6.1 months and the improvements and
efficiencies realized with the successful completion
of the COPA initiative. During FY 2008, unearned
patent fees increased 3.2 percent, in line with the
increase in first action pendency of 1.2 percent.
In FY 2009 and FY 2010, unearned patent fees
decreased 4.6 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively.
Filings and Pendencies FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012
Patent Filings 496,886 486,499 509,367 537,171 1 565,406 1
Percentage Change in Patent Filings 6.1% (2.1)% 4.7% 5.5% 5.3%
Patent First Action Pendency (months) 25.6 25.8 25.7 28.0 21.9
Percentage Change in Patent First Action Pendency 1.2% 0.8% (0.4)% 8.9% (21.8)%
Total Patent Pendency (months) 32.2 34.6 35.3 33.7 32.4
Percentage Change in Total Patent Pendency 0.9% 7.5% 2.0% (4.5)% (3.9)%
Trademark Filings 401,392 352,051 368,939 398,667 415,026
Percentage Change in Trademark Filings 1.8% (12.3)% 4.8% 8.1% 4.1%
Trademark First Action Pendency (months) 3.0 2.7 3.0 3.1 3.2
Percentage Change in Trademark First Action Pendency 3.4% (10.0)% 11.1% 3.3% 3.2%
Total Trademark Average Pendency (months) 11.8 11.2 10.5 10.5 10.2
Percentage Change in Total Trademark Average Pendency (11.9)% (5.1)% (6.2)% —% (2.9)%
1 Preliminary data
PERFORMANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT: FISCAL YEAR 2012