# Presentation: 199291

## Application Filingsand Examiner Production

## UPR Applications Filed

**FY 05 plan 375,080  ****(5.5% above FY 04)**
**FY 05 actual 384,228 (8.1% above FY04)  **
**2.6% over plan**

## Production

**Production**

- 1 “UPR” = Utility, Plant, and Reissue Applications.
- 2 “FAOM” = First Action on the Merits – first action count by an examiner after the filing of an application (does not include restrictions or other miscellaneous actions).
- 3 “Disposal” = An examiner allowance, abandonment, or disposals following a board decision.
- 4 “Production Unit” = First action count plus disposal count divided by 2.
- 5 “PCT” = Patent Cooperation Treaty.  PCT applications are processed differently and tracked separately from US National stage applications.  For FY 05, 15,147 PU’s is 35,389 processed applications.

## . . . vs the Backlog 

**PENDENCY**

## First Action Pendency by Art Areas

**1**** **“Average 1st action pendency” is the average age from filing to first action for a newly filed application, completed during October-December 2005.

## Inventory by Art Examples

- *The number of months it would take to reach a first action on the merits (e.g., an action addressing patentability issues) on a new application filed in July 2005 at today’s production rate.  Today’s production rate means that there are no changes in production due to hiring, attrition, changes to examination processing or examination efficiencies, and that applications are taken up in the order of filing in the given art unit/area.  Of course, USPTO is taking aggressive steps to ensure changes that will significantly lower the inventory rates in high-inventory art areas.

## TC Application Inventory

**TC Application Inventory**

- 1 “New Application inventory” is the number of new applications designated or assigned to a technology center awaiting a first action.
- 2 “Overall Pending Application inventory” is the total number of applications designated or assigned to a technology center in an active status.  Includes new applications; rejected awaiting response; amended; under appeal or interference; suspended; reexams and allowed applications awaiting grant publication.
- *Total inventory includes applications not assigned to a particular TC, awaiting processing either pre- or post-examination.

## Patent Quality

**(Shared Responsibility)**

## Quality of Products – FY 05

***Compliance and error rates as measured by OPQA.  **

- 1Compliance is the percent of office actions reviewed and found to be free of any in-process examination deficiency (an error that has significant adverse impact on patent prosecution).
- 2Patent allowance error rate is the percent of allowed applications reviewed having at least one claim which is considered unpatentable on a basis for which a court would hold a patent invalid.  “Allowance” occurs before a patent is issued, so these errors are caught before any patent is actually granted.

## Re-Work

## Technology Centers Rework* Statistics

***  Rework first actions are those actions that are in a Continuing (CONs and CIPs), RCE, CPA or 129(a) applications (excludes Divisionals).**

## Hiring and Retention 

## Hires and Attritions

| 	 | 1600 | 1700 | 2100 | 2600 | 2800 | 3600 | 3700 | Corps | Design |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| FY 04 Hires | 75 | 35 | 115 | 116 | 31 | 26 | 45 | 443 | 15 |
| FY 04 Attritions | 30 | 26 | 58 | 82 | 58 | 43 | 39 | 336 | 4 |
| FY 05 BOY Examiner Staff | 417 | 440 | 563 | 658 | 742 | 422 | 439 | 3681 | 72 |
| FY 05 Hiring | 101 | 58 | 225 | 169 | 184 | 91 | 131 | 959 | 19 |
| FY 05 Attrits | 42 | 39 | 93 | 92 | 54 | 55 | 50 | 425 | 10 |
| FY 06 Hiring Goal | 75 | 35 | 256 | 256 | 178 | 100 | 100 | 1000 | 20 |
| FY 06 hires (1/25/06) | 30 | 19 | 75 | 62 | 40 | 22 | 21 | 269 | 0 |
| FY05 Hires as a Percent of Examiner Staffing in the TC | 24% | 13% | 40% | 26% | 25% | 22% | 30% | 26% | 26% |

## Markush Practice

## Markush Practice

**A-(B)-(C)-(D)****n****-E**
**or a pharmaceutically acceptable derivative thereof , wherein . . .**

**Markush Practice**

## Slide 16

## Slide 17

## Slide 18

## Slide 19

## Slide 20

## Production

**We Can Not Hire Our Way Out !!!**

## Production

- 200,000

- 250,000

- 300,000

- 350,000

- 400,000

- 450,000

- 500,000

- 550,000

- 600,000

- 2002

- 2003

- 2004

- 2005

- 2006

- 2007

- 2008

- 2009

- 2010

- Without Strategic Plan

- 1,000 Hires & Lower Attrition Rate

- Plus Claims & Continuation Limits

- Plus Patentability Reports

- Historic

**Production**

## Contact Information

**John Doll**
**     ****Commissioner for Patents**
**	****e-mail:****	**_**[john.doll@uspto.gov](mailto:john.doll@uspto.gov)**_
**	****Phone: ****	****571 272 8250 **
**	****	**

## John Doll –  Commissioner for Patents

**February 1, 2006**

## Pendency Projections

## Pendency Using FY 2005 Actual Filings at 8.1%

**50**

## Pendency Using FY 2005 Actual Filings at 8.1%

**51**

## Pendency Using FY 2005 Actual Filings at 8.1%

**52**

## Pendency Using FY 2005 Actual Filings at 8.1%

**53**

## Pendency Using FY 2005 Actual Filings at 8.1%

**54**

## Stats and Stuff

## Total Continuation Filing Rates

***Straight Continuations 37 CFR ****§****1.53 (b)(1) – No Divisionals or CIPs – as of 1/17/06**

**56**

## Distribution of Independent Claims at Filing

**57**

## Distribution of Total Claims at Filing

**58**

## Total Claims at Filing and Issue

- Claims Filed

- Claims Issued

- Average Claims Filed

**59**

## Distribution of the Number of References Cited in Applications

**Sampling done April-June 2005**

**60**