Using the Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan to Accelerate Your Patent Application

By Scott Thorpe
Entrepreneurs and inventors are often frustrated by the enormous backlog of patent applications at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Currently it is often 2-4 years after filing an application before examination on the application even starts, and then it can easily take a year or more for the application to be allowed.

As a result, cutting edge innovations are often unprotected for years while their patent applications idle at the USPTO. This makes it difficult for innovators to stop competitors from copying successful products during the critical market introduction and early sales phases.

To reduce this enormous application backlog, the USPTO has instituted a Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan. The plan allows an applicant to have special status accorded for an application if the applicant expressly abandons another unexamined application.

Special status is an enormous benefit. Patent applications are normally examined by USPTO art groups in roughly the order in which they are received. Special status allows a patent application to jump to the head of the line. An application accorded special status is often examined within a few weeks rather than years. As a result, the applicant can receive patent protection years earlier when that protection is most valuable.

Special status is also advantageous for appeals to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI). It is not uncommon for an application to be held up in examination, particularly when one is seeking broad claims that provide effective protection. One of the best options for breaking such as impasse is to appeal to the BPAI. Unfortunately, the BPAI has its own very large backlog, so that appeals are largely ineffective in accelerating the issue of a patent. However, special status also applies to appeals, increasing the attractiveness of an appeal and giving applicants more options and leverage in moving an application forward.

When the plan was first announced, it applied only to small entities - organizations with less than 500 employees. However the plan was recently expanded to include applications from organizations without small entity status. But regardless of the size of your organization, the plan can be useful in accelerating the granting of patents by years and should be carefully considered by any organization looking to protect a vital innovation.