USPTO has launched Interactive Patent Pendency Model (PPM)

The USPTO on December 19 announced the launch of an interactive patent pendency model (PPM) that enables users to see how overall application pendency is affected by the number of examiner hires per year; the amount of overtime worked, and patent filing levels. In one example, the model shows that an additional 1,000 examiners hired in the period during 2010-2012 could reduce the backlog from 719,000 to just over 470,000 by the end of 2012. Alternatively, if no new examiners were hired and no overtime was allowed, the current backlog could increase to 1,651,000, and the first action pendency would increase from 25 months to 67 months. The PPM was established to further the USPTO's efforts to increase transparency and to reduce patent pendency. The PPM webpage can be found in the Patent statistics area of the USPTO Web site.