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Examining Patent Examination
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2016
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Patent ProsecutionEngineeringProvisional ApplicationLawTechnology LawPatent DraftingProgram EvaluationPatent AnalysisData SciencePatent PoolData ManagementPatentabilityIntellectual PropertyFate OfapplicationsTechnology TransferPatent PolicyPatent ProsecutorsPatent LawPatent ExaminationPost-grant ProceedingsTechnologyReal Time
The USPTO now receives more applications than ever, but until 2001 no data existed on their outcomes; the 2001 data publication and PAIR system now allow real‑time tracking of pending applications. This study reports, for the first time, systematic data on the fate of PTO applications. The authors leverage the 2001 data release and the PAIR system to compile and analyze application outcomes. The analysis confirms much of the prevailing wisdom while revealing several surprising results.
The USPTO receives more applications today than it ever has before. Whathappens to those applications? Patent prosecutors all have stories andpersonal experiences. Until quite recently, however, this sort of“anecdata” was all that was available, because the law prevented anyonefrom every finding out what happened to patent applications that did notultimately issue as patents.That changed in 2001, when the PTO began publishing data on pendingapplications, and when the PAIR system allowed the public to track the fateof those applications in real time. In this paper, we use those changes toreport – for the first time ever – systematic data on the fate ofapplications in the PTO. We are able to confirm much received wisdom, butalso to offer some surprising results.