Press Release
for immediate release
Keywords: USPTO, pendency, innovation, accelerated examination, patent, patents, Brother Industries, inventions, AE, AESD, patent database, search, IDS, patent attorneys, prior art, patent application, patent classification, 37cfr, PatentCafe
USPTO Lacks Workflow Solutions; Performance Drops
December 31, 2008 - Sacramento, CA -[T]he average pendency to a first Office Action for all Tech Centers combined jumped from 25.3 months in 2007 to 25.6 months in 2008, and the overall average total pendency increased from 31.9 months in 2007 to 32.2 months in 2008.1
So much for meeting the performance goal of reduced pendency. Unless and until the USPTO begins using state-of-the-art software technology in its examination workflow system, it will be incapable of achieving any substantive quality increases of pendency reduction. And, by “state-of-the-art” software technology, we mean software from numerous vendors that’s been available to, and reviewed by the USPTO over nearly ½ decade.
High tech companies, once the venerable and venerated constituents of the USPTO, can no longer afford to have their global competitiveness stripped away by this very agency that was formed to foster innovation and commerce. The USPTO Accelerated Examination program is the answer to faster patent issuances, and the inevitable market protection that faster patents deliver to patent owners competing in markets with short innovation cycles.
The USPTO introduced the Accelerated Examination Program in August 2006. The first patent granted under the program was US 7,188,939, issued on March 13, 2007 to Brother Industries Ltd. (Japan). Brother Ind. Noted in its press release that “[t]he company plans to continue to utilize the Accelerated Examination Program to receive accelerated examination of important inventions in the future.”
Accelerated Examination submissions offer competitive benefits, but carry along inherent risk. A report by the USPTO in August 2007 showed that only 33% of the AE submissions had been granted. The large rate of failure was due in large part because of the applicant’s non-compliance with the USPTO’s complicated Accelerated Examination Search Report (AESD) procedures, and not based on merit or non-patentability.
www.37CFR.com is an online workflow software solution that incorporates a large-scale commercial patent database (15 million full text US and foreign patents), and an artificial intelligence patent search technology.
The software automates every operational procedure, and in the correct sequence, to help applicants easily comply with the complicated accelerated examination procedures. No installation is required, and the output is in multiple USPTO and custom search report forms, including IDS and Transmittal forms.
At the end of a case, the entire file (PDFs) is ready to submit for consideration.
The software is sophisticated – meaning that patent attorneys who are NOT patent search gurus can easily perform prior art searches simply by using the claims of the patent application as a natural language search query.
The software automatically identifies the most likely US Patent Classification for each claim, and guides the attorney through the workflow features, ensuring compliance with 37CFR 1.56 and other relevant code provisions. Not only is the AE examination process fast, most attorneys can create their entire Accelerated Examination Search Document, ready to file, within a few hours.
New cases can be created instantly – online, using the ultra-secure workflow and proven e-commerce systems.
See all of the features and capabilities of PatentCafe’s ground-breaking software at www.37CFR.com.
Give the USPTO what it wants in terms of high quality submissions, but until President Obama’s administration implements REAL patent workflow infrastructure reform, your best bet is to rely on commercial enterprises to help your enterprise protect its most valuable innovations.
1. A report on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office FY 2008 Performance and Accountability Report by Donald Zuhn, www.patentdocs.org
About Pantros IP
Pantros IP pioneered the integration of Latent Semantic Analysis / advanced linguistics patent search technology, portfolio management software, online patent analytics, and an international patent database, into a single enterprise-class software application.
Its proven LSA patent search technology has revolutionized patent research by saving customers up to 40% of the time and costs associated with using legacy Boolean patent search engines, while significantly increasing the quality of their patents.
After 11 years, Pantros IP is still the innovation leader, continually announcing new lines of proprietary software modules (patents pending) that help legal, business and government professionals search, manage, mine, exploit, analyze and develop patents and portfolios, including private corporate portfolio management, industry analysis, competitive patent intelligence, and unparalleled patent informatics.
Its customers range from Fortune 100 companies and government research labs, to boutique patent law firms and intellectual property consultancies.
For more information about Pantros IP, for a products web-demo, please contact:
Elena Lowe, Editor
Pantros IP
lena (at) pantrosip (dot) com
916 239 2500
2890 Gateway Oaks Drive, Suite 250
Sacramento, CA 95833