In response to the backlog at the United States Patent Office, increased numbers of corporations and patent law firms are opting for accelerated examination when filing a patent application. The average number of accelerated examination petitions filed per month between May 2008 and May 2009 rose 61% compared to the previous 12 months, peaking at 241 in August 2008.
Some more statistics from the USPTO, as of May 2009:
- Fastest patent issued under an accelerated application in 2008 was completed in 76 days (US Patent No. 7408364)
- Average time from filing to completed prosecution: 197 days; Minimum time: 18 days
- Average number of days from filing to issue: 296
- Applications allowed since the program started in Aug 2006: 914+
- Allowance rate in FY09: 80.3%; FY08: 69.7% (an increase of over 10%)
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