Patent Public Advisory Committee Meeting

Patent Operations

Andy Faile Deputy Commissioner for Patent Operations September 27, 2012

0

25,000

50,000

75,000

100,000

125,000

150,000

175,000

200,000

225,000

250,000

275,000

300,000

325,000

350,000

375,000

400,000

425,000

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475,000

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525,000

550,000

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012(Pres. Budget

(Projected)

2012(Actuals)

Appl

icatio

ns

Fiscal Year

Total UPR and RCE Filings FY 2001 – FY 2012 (through September 24)

FY 2012 Target based on 2013 President’s Budget: 533,300 (5.2% Projected Growth over FY 2011)

FY 2012 Total URR filings through August are currently 6.1% above FY 2011; RCE filings are 4.2% above FY2011; FY 2012 Serialized filings are 6.9% above FY 2011

518,175 Total UPR Filings Received so far in FY 2012.

2

Unexamined Patent Application Backlog FY 2009 – FY 2012 (through September 25, 2012)

•618,600 as of September 12, 2012

FY 2012 Target (2013 President’s Budget): 621,800 – Includes Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) Production Adjustment.

Target Less CPC Adjustment: 615,000. •3

600,000

625,000

650,000

675,000

700,000

725,000

750,000

775,000

FY08-Q4 FY09-Q2 FY09-Q4 FY10-Q2 FY10-Q4 FY11-Q2 FY11-Q4 FY12-Q2 09/25/12

App

licat

ions

Aw

aitin

g Fi

rst A

ctio

n

619,003 as of 9/25/12

Excess and Optimal Unexamined Patent Application Inventory FY 2009 – FY 2012 (through August 2012)

035,00070,000

105,000140,000175,000210,000245,000280,000315,000350,000385,000420,000455,000490,000525,000560,000595,000630,000665,000700,000735,000770,000

10/08

11/08

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08/12

Applic

ation

s

Optimal Inventory Excess Inventory

265,875 Excess Unexamined Applications as of August 2012. 4

5

RCE Backlog FY 2010 – FY 2012 (through September 25, 2012)

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

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100,000

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12

RC

E Ap

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Next

Act

ion

RCE Backlog

RCE Backlog 98,217 as of September 25, 2012.

Breakout of the RCE Backlog as of September 25, 2012

•6

Breakdown of RCE Backlog <= 1Mth >1 <=3 Mths > 3 <= 6 Mths > 6 <= 9 Mths > 9 <= 12 Mths > 12 <= 15 Mths > 15 <= 18 Mths > 18 Mths

Number of Applications 12,982 16,823 18,289 13,994 9,796 7,451 5,423 13,460

Percentage 13.2% 17.1% 18.6% 14.2% 10.0% 7.6% 5.5% 13.7%

Reducing RCEs

7

New Pilot Programs (AFCP, QPIDS)

RCE Outreach

RCE Leveling

Plan

First Action Pendency and Total Pendency FY 2009 – FY 2012 (through August)

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10.012.014.016.018.020.022.024.026.028.030.032.034.036.038.040.0

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2

Mon

ths

First Action Pendency Total Pendency

First Action Pendency as of August 31, 2012: 22.3 months.

Total Pendency as of August 31, 2012: 32.7 months.

Average Total Pendency FY 2012 Target: 34.7 months Average First Action Pendency FY 2012 Target: 22.5 months (Average First Action Pendency FY 2012 Stretch Target Less CPC Adjustment: 22.3 months)

Forward Looking First Action Pendency FY 2009 – FY 2012 (through August)

10.0

12.0

14.0

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Mon

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Forward Looking Pendency represents an estimate of the average number of months it would take to complete a first Office action under current and projected workload and resource levels for an application filed at the given date.

Forward Looking First Action Pendency as of August 31, 2012: 16.7 months

9

10

Percent of Terminal Disposals Having at Least 1 Interview

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Month of Disposal

Percent of Terminal Disposals having at Least One Interview

11

12 Month Rolling Average Allowance Rate, by Bi-Week FY 2009 – FY 2012 (through September 8, 2012)

40.0%

41.0%

42.0%

43.0%

44.0%

45.0%

46.0%

47.0%

48.0%

49.0%

50.0%

51.0%

52.0%

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Allowance Rate

Allowance Rate as of 9/8/12: 51.2%

Actions Per Disposal Target Sustained decrease in actions per disposal is a positive indicator – issues are being resolved efficiently

12 Month Rolling Average Actions Per Disposal FY 2009 – FY 2012 (through September 8, 2012)

1.8

1.9

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2

Actions Per Disposal 2.51 as of 09/08/12

12

0.00.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.80.91.01.11.21.31.41.51.61.71.81.92.02.12.22.32.42.5

2007

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13

Rejections in Terminal Disposals by Month Miscellaneous Actions in Terminal Disposals by Month FY 2008 – FY 2012 (through August)

Actions included in the Rejections in Terminal Disposal calculation include non-final rejections, final rejections, and FAI pilot. A Terminal Disposal is an application either issued or abandoned. The filing of an RCE is not counted is not included in the denominator; however, a rejection after an RCE would be in the numerator.

Miscellaneous Actions in Terminal Disposals include the following actions: Mail Restriction Requirement, Mail Notice of Informal or Non-Responsive Amendment, Mail Ex Parte Quayle Action (PTOL - 326), Mail Appeals conf. Proceed to BPAI, Mail BPAI Decision on Appeal - Affirmed, Mail Notice of Restarted Response Period, Mail Miscellaneous Communication to Applicant, Notice -- Defective Appeal Brief, Mail Non-Compliant Preliminary Amendment, Mail Notice of Informal or Non-Responsive RCE Amendment, Mail BPAI Decision on Appeal - Affirmed in Part, Mail Notice of Required Fees Due, Mail Supplemental Non-Final Action, Mail Supplemental Final Rejection, Appeal Dismissed - Mailed, Mail Pre-Interview Communication, Mail First Action Interview Office Action, Mail Independent Rule 105 Communication, Mail Supplemental Restriction / Election Requirement, Mail Letter Requiring CRF (Unreadable, Non-Compliant, Not Submitted), Notice -- Defective Notice of Appeal, Mail Notice of non-compliant drawings filed separately, Mail Post-examiner ans. com, Mail Reconstruction Notice - Pending Application, Mail - Order By BPAI, Mail Formal Drawings Required, Mail Noncompliant First Action Interview, Mail Suspension Due to Interference in Another Application, Mail Pre-interview First Office Action, Mail Supplemental Ex parte Quayle Action, Mail Incomplete CPA Notification, Mail Incomplete Response to Sequence Rule Request, Mail Non-Bonafide Response to Sequence Request, Mail Oath of Declaration Required, Mail Notice of Formal Drawings Required, Mail Notice of lost Image document

Represents the end of a fiscal year.

2.03

0.31

14

0%

1%

2%

3%

4%

5%

6%

7%

8%

9%

10%

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 10/11 11/11 12/11 01/12 02/12 03/12 04/12 05/12 06/12 07/12 08/12

Perc

ent

Fiscal Year

UPR Attrition Rate Less Transfers and Retirees

12-Month Rolling Average UPR Examiner Attrition Rate Less Transfers and Retirees FY 2001 – FY 2012 (through August)

3.08% as of August 2012.

The oval represents when monthly data begins.

01,0002,0003,0004,0005,0006,0007,0008,0009,000

10,00011,00012,00013,00014,00015,00016,00017,00018,00019,00020,00021,00022,00023,00024,00025,000

13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 51 53 55 57 59

Num

ber o

f App

licat

ions

Months

Distribution of Corps Backlog (Tail)

Tail Cases Remaining Tail Cases Worked

15

FY 2012 COPA Backlog (Tail): Applications with filing dates on or before September 1st, 2010 (304,000 on Oct. 1, 2011) FY 2012 Goal: Reduce COPA Backlog (Tail) by 260,000 applications (75,895 applications have been disposed) 98.4% of the original COPA 1.0 cases have received a first action.

40,511 Total Tail Cases Remaining

FY2012 Goal: 260,000 Cases

263,489 Tail Cases Worked

Clearing the Oldest Patent Applications 2.0 (COPA) FY 2012 (through September 24, 2012)

Projected ~44K Cases Left in the Tail at EOFY 12

•Applications to the right of the red line include unexamined applications from the COPA 1.0 initiative.

16

Track One Statistics (through 09/17/12)

First Patent Issued on January 10, 2012 from a September 30, 2011 Prioritized Examination filing First Patent Issued on January 10, 2012 from a September 30, 2011 Prioritized Examination filing

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Quality data are compiled on a quarterly basis.

Patent Quality Composite – Preliminary FY12 - Q4

18

Patent Quality Composite - Preliminary FY12 - Q4

19

Patent Quality Composite - Preliminary FY12 - Q4

Monitoring Continuous Improvement The Quality Composite Score in any given FY represents total cumulative progress towards meeting the FY15 quality goals. FY targets for desired progress throughout the Strategic Plan period have been established to evaluate interim performance and track year-to-year changes.

FY12Q4 preliminary indication of 72.9 means that the Office is currently 72.9% of the way in meeting the quality objectives it plans to achieve by the end of FY15.

20

30.7

72.9

0102030405060708090

100

FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15

Actual

48 - 56

65 - 73

83 - 91 100

35 - 43