The allowance rate is significantly on the rise. PatentlyO recently discussed this trend and cited an increase from under 50% to around 65% over the past few months.
While it is unclear what the actual cause of this increase is, the increase may be due to an overall less adversarial approach by the PTO. Since David Kappos has taken over as director, there have been numerous initiatives designed to promote cooperation between the examiner and the applicant that may have directly impacted the allowance rate. The First Action Interview Pilot Program, essentially allowing applicants to have an interview with the Examiner prior to the issuance of a first office action, was implemented with the purpose of getting the applicant and the Examiner on the same page regarding the nature of the invention earlier in the process. Getting the Examiner and the applicant on the same page earlier in the process may have increased the allowance rate, as Examiners can get a clearer idea earlier about which parts of the application are allowable subject matter.
"Project Exchange," allowing applicants with multiple applications pending at the PTO to withdraw an application in exchange for expedited examination of another application, is another initiative that may have had a direct impact on the allowance rate by allowing applicants to prosecute their most pressing, and likely best, applications right away. Even initiatives like the Patent Ombudsman Program, while not directly impacting the allowance rate, are indicative of an overall more cooperative approach by the PTO since Kappos took office.
The economy may have also played a role in the rising grant rate. As the economy worsened, companies downsized, likely allowing some applications to go abandoned and decreasing the allowance rate. However, when the economy improved somewhat towards the end of 2009, companies reinvested in R&D and used additional resources to prosecute existing applications. When companies resumed prosecution, the allowance rate could have conceivably increased as a result.
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