Patent Law

Updated Statistics: Patent Application Pendency

By Dennis Crouch

The above chart shows average application pendency for issued utility patents grouped by issue year. The chart presents three separate series that differ according to the filing-date used in the pendency calculation. The lowest data-series uses a traditional calculation that calculates pendency based on the actual US non-provisional filing date of the application in question without regard to any priority claims. The middle data-series calculates pendency based on the earliest US Priority claim. The highest data-series includes claims to both US and Foreign priority filings.

This chart is useful both for applicants and for third-parties considering moving forward with product development. Importantly, when a patent application is originally filed abroad, it usually take more than six-years before the first US patent is issued.

Full post as published by Patently Obvious on July 12, 2010 (boomark / email).