USPTO Annual Report for FY 2008 shows record

The USPTO released their annual report for FY 2008 yesterday, and boy was it a doozy. Here are some highlights from their press release:

Patents – Optimizing Patent Quality and Timeliness

In FY 2008, USPTO met and, in some cases, exceeded its patent pendency, production, and quality targets. Patents maintained a high level of patent quality by achieving an allowance compliance rate of 96.3 percent, exceeding its goal.

• Patents increased production by an additional 14 percent over FY 2007 by examining 448,003 applications—the highest number in history. Production has increased by 38.6 percent over the past four years, compared to a 21.3 percent increase in application filings during the same period.
• Patents received a record number of utility patent applications filed electronically (332,617), and achieved a record rate (72.1 percent) of applications filed electronically as well.
• Patents achieved an average first action pendency of 25.6 months and an average total pendency of 32.2 months.
• Patents received 1,765 patent application filings through the Accelerated Examination Program, 173 percent more than in the program’s introductory year of FY 2007. A 12-month or less pendency rate was also maintained for every application, with an average time to final action or allowance of 186 days.

Trademarks – Optimizing Trademark Quality and Timeliness

For the third year in a row, USPTO met or exceeded all of its performance goals for trademarks as well.

• Trademarks ended its year with first action pendency at three months. Trademarks has maintained its first action pendency within the 2.5 to 3.5 month range for more than 18 months, a historic first. Disposal pendency was also maintained at record low levels, ending the year with 11.8 months pendency for cases without inter partes or suspended cases and at 13.9 months for all disposals. This disposal pendency is the lowest in 20 years.
• This year saw a record number of applications filed electronically--approximately 268,000 applications comprising 390,000 classes. This represented a record rate of filing; 96.9 percent of all applications were filed electronically.
• Quality remained high throughout the year with a first action compliance rate of 95.8 percent and a final action compliance rate of 97.2 percent. Both measures exceeded performance expectations.

That's right, '08 saw records in both patent applications and electronic trademark applications.

View the full report here.