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

for approximately 84 percent of total patent income.
The chart on the previous page depicts the relationship
among the most significant patent fee types.
Patent maintenance fees are the largest source of
earned revenue by fee type. During FY 2012, maintenance
fees collected decreased $121.4 million, or
14.8 percent, from FY 2011. A significant portion of
this decrease was due to early renewals that were
paid prior to the implementation of the 15 percent
surcharge on September 26, 2011. Since these fees
are recognized immediately as earned revenue, any
fluctuations in the rates of renewal have a significant
impact on the total earned revenue of the USPTO.
To some extent, renewals recoup costs incurred
during the initial patent process. As shown above,
the renewal rates for all three stages of maintenance
fees decreased this year.
Application fee revenue earned upon filing increased
from $102.8 million in FY 2011 to $124.2 million in
FY 2012 (increase of 20.8 percent), with the number
of applications increasing from 537,171 to 565,406
over the same period (increase of 5.3 percent).
The FY 2013 President’s Budget projects a 6.0 percent
increase in patent applications filed beginning in
FY 2013 and gradually decreasing to 5.0 percent
through FY 2017, which will contribute to continued
budgetary resources, as well as earned fee revenue.
Earned issue fee revenue increased from $397.2 million
in FY 2011 to $463.3 million in FY 2012, with the number
of patents issued increasing from 244,430 to 270,258
over the same period, an increase of 16.6 percent and
10.6 percent, respectively. These increases are in line
with the increases in production and patent allowance
rate. The FY 2013 President’s Budget projects that
patents issued will increase an average of 4.4 percent
each fiscal year through FY 2017, which will result in
increases in maintenance fees in future years.
Trademark
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
Patent Renewal Rates 1 FY 2008 FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 2 FY 2012 2
First Stage 83.1% 80.3% 99.4% 101.3% 78.3%
Second Stage 73.7% 63.5% 71.2% 80.6% 55.7%
Third Stage 49.2% 45.4% 50.0% 60.0% 47.0%
1 Note: the First Stage refers to the end of the 3rd year after the initial patent is issued; the Second Stage refers to the end of the
7th year after the initial patent is issued; and the Third Stage refers to the end of the 11th year after the initial patent is issued.
For example, in FY 2012, 78.3 percent of the patents issued three years ago were renewed, 55.7 percent of the patents issued
seven years ago were renewed, and 47.0 percent of the patents issued 11 years ago were renewed.
2 Note: Due to the implementation of the 15 percent fee surcharge on September 26, 2011, the FY 2011 renewal rates include
some early renewals that would have otherwise been renewed in FY 2012.
Trademark fees are comprised of application filing,
renewals, services, and TTAB fees. Additional fees are
charged for intent-to-use filed applications, as additional
requirements must be met for registration.
The following chart depicts the relationship among
the most significant trademark fee types.
Earned revenue for trademark applications increased
from $125.4 million in FY 2011 to $130.1 million in
FY 2012, with the number of trademarks registered
increasing from 237,586 to 243,459 over the same
period, increases of 3.7 percent and 2.5 percent,
respectively. The FY 2013 President’s Budget projects
that trademark applications filed will continue to
increase, which will contribute to the continued
growth in budgetary resources, as well as earned fee
revenue.
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