Patent Public Advisory Committee
Quarterly Meeting
Patent Operations Update
Daniel Sullivan
Group Director, Technology Center 1600
May 4, 2017
Serialized and RCE Filings FY 2010 - FY 2017 Q2
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Ap
pli
ca
tio
ns
Fiscal Year
Serialized Filings RCE Filings
Unexamined Patent Application InventoryFY 2011 – FY 2017 Q2
546,766 Unexamined Applications as of March 31, 2017
320,000360,000400,000440,000480,000520,000560,000600,000640,000680,000720,000760,000
FY
11
-Q1
FY
11
-Q2
FY
11
-Q3
FY
11
-Q4
FY
12
-Q1
FY
12
-Q2
FY
12
-Q3
FY
12
-Q4
FY
13
-Q1
FY
13
-Q2
FY
13
-Q3
FY
13
-Q4
FY
14
-Q1
FY
14
-Q2
FY
14
-Q3
FY
14
-Q4
FY
15
-Q1
FY
15
-Q2
FY
15
-Q3
FY
15
-Q4
FY
16
-Q1
FY
16
-Q2
FY
16
-Q3
FY
16
-Q4
FY
17
-Q1
FY
17
-Q2
Ap
pli
ca
tio
ns A
wa
itin
g F
irst
Actio
n
Quarter
RCE InventoryFY 2010 – FY 2017 Q2
0
10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
70,000
80,000
90,000
100,000
110,000
120,000
10/0
9
05/1
0
12/1
0
07/1
1
02/1
2
09/1
2
04/1
3
11/1
3
06/1
4
01/1
5
08/1
5
03/1
6
RCE
Appl
icatio
ns A
wai
ting
Nex
t Act
ion
Month/Year
RCE CSI Changes(Nov 2009)
AFCP(March 2012)
ABC DM Change(October 2013)
QPIDS (May 2012)
RCE Count Change(March 2013)
33,796 RCE Applications as of March 31, 2017
First Action Pendency and Total PendencyFY 2011 – FY 2017 Q2
9.0
13.0
17.0
21.0
25.0
29.0
33.0
37.0FY
11-Q
4
FY12
-Q1
FY12
-Q2
FY12
-Q3
FY12
-Q4
FY13
-Q1
FY13
-Q2
FY13
-Q3
FY13
-Q4
FY14
-Q1
FY14
-Q2
FY14
-Q3
FY14
-Q4
FY15
-Q1
FY15
-Q2
FY15
-Q3
FY15
-Q4
FY16
-Q1
FY16
-Q2
FY16
-Q3
FY16
-Q4
FY17
-Q1
FY17
-Q2
Mon
ths
Year/Quarter
First Action Pendency Total Pendency
Total Pendency as of March 31, 2017: 25.7 months.
First Action Pendency as of March 31, 2017: 16.1 months.
Pendency from RCE Filing to Next ActionFY 2010 – FY 2017 Q2
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
7.0
8.0
9.0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017-Q1 2017-Q2
Mo
nth
s to
Ne
xt A
ctio
n
Fiscal Year
12-Month Average UPR Examiner Attrition Rate Less Transfers and Retirees and Overall Attrition RateFY 2001 – FY 2017 Q2
FY 2016 Attrition Rate Less Transfers and Retirees: 2.9%
FY 2016 Overall Attrition Rate: 4.3%
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
8%
9%
10%
11%
12%
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016-Q1
2016-Q2
2016-Q3
2016-Q4
2017-Q1
2017-Q2
Percen
t
Year
Attrition Rate Less Transfers and Retirees Overall Attrition Rate
12-Month Attrition Rate Less Transfers and Retirees: 2.88%
12-Month Overall Attrition Rate: 4.2%
Design FilingsFY 2009 – FY 2017 Q2
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Ap
pli
ca
tio
ns
Fiscal Year
Filings
19,974 Applications received as of March 31, 2017
Design Unexamined Application InventoryFY 2011 – FY 2017 Q2
42,668 Applications as of March 31, 2017
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000
50,000FY
11-Q
1
FY11
-Q2
FY11
-Q3
FY11
-Q4
FY12
-Q1
FY12
-Q2
FY12
-Q3
FY12
-Q4
FY13
-Q1
FY13
-Q2
FY13
-Q3
FY13
-Q4
FY14
-Q1
FY14
-Q2
FY14
-Q3
FY14
-Q4
FY15
-Q1
FY15
-Q2
FY15
-Q3
FY15
-Q4
FY16
-Q1
FY16
-Q2
FY16
-Q3
FY16
-Q4
FY17
-Q1
FY17
-Q2
Appl
icat
ions
Aw
aitin
g Fi
rst A
ctio
n
Year/Quarter
Design First Action Pendency and Total PendencyFY 2011 – FY 2017 Q2
5.0
9.0
13.0
17.0
21.0
FY11
-Q4
FY12
-Q1
FY12
-Q2
FY12
-Q3
FY12
-Q4
FY13
-Q1
FY13
-Q2
FY13
-Q3
FY13
-Q4
FY14
-Q1
FY14
-Q2
FY14
-Q3
FY14
-Q4
FY15
-Q1
FY15
-Q2
FY15
-Q3
FY15
-Q4
FY16
-Q1
FY16
-Q2
FY16
-Q3
FY16
-Q4
FY17
Q1
FY17
-Q2
Mon
ths
Year/Quarter
Design First Action Pendency Design Total Pendency
Design Total Pendency as of March 31, 2017: 19.4 months.
First Action Pendency as of March 31, 2017: 12.9 months.
Track One Filings
Petitions
Received October November December January February March April May June July August September Total
FY 11 855 855
FY 12 390 302 285 292 371 442 457 516 436 470 517 559 5,037
FY 13 505 513 575 504 468 1,029 400 508 530 584 642 636 6,894
FY 14 715 570 732 650 629 1,028 822 803 795 796 673 911 9,124
FY 15 833 633 758 662 665 867 778 768 877 868 720 857 9,286
FY 16 729 844 1,155 766 773 868 824 776 848 679 773 976 10,011
FY 17 931 727 768 627 639 823 4,515
Track One Pendency
• Average time from Filing to Petition grant: 1.4 months
• Average time from petition grant to first action: 2.6 months
• Average time from petition grant to final disposition: 6.5 months
• Average time from petition grant to allowance: 5.2 months
Track One Results
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
Number of
Abandonments
Number of
Allowances
Final Rejections Notice of Appeals
Cumulative through March 31, 2017.
Questions and Comments
Daniel SullivanGroup Director, Technology Center 1600
(571) 272-0900