Oct 2, 2014
300,000 patents issued for first time in a fiscal year. Over the last few decades the number of patents issued at the USPTO has been showing a general trend upward. However the filings have also been increasing, at times more quickly then issuances. This has led to the extreme backlog of patents waiting examination. Over the last 4 years the USPTO has made some considerable steps to decrease the backlog. As seen in the chart on the link, more allowances have been issued. There is still a lot of work to do to get the backlog to a reasonable level but at least progress is being made.
If you are wondering how long you have to wait until the patent is examined, the last I recall was about 19-20 months on average. Total pendency is around 33 months. Long time, I know. It is getting better.
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