by Dennis Crouch
Although there have been some enhancements, preliminary workplace actions usually require a good quantity clean-up and fine-tuning. This course of typically consists of rectifying typographical errors and clarifying free declare language. It’s additionally widespread for the examiner to misconstrue features of the invention. Nevertheless, by the point the ultimate rejection stage is reached, these points are normally addressed, and the traces of distinction are extra clearly drawn. So, for my examine right here, I made a decision to look solely at closing workplace actions and ask the query of what proportion of those contain eligibility rejections.
The chart above stories the share of ultimate workplace actions that embody an eligibility rejection. The uppermost (orange dashed) line on the chart represents purposes examined by the eCommerce artwork items (particularly the 3620s, 3680s, and 3690s). Notably, in 2023 greater than 90% of the ultimate rejections for the 3690s (finance, banking, insurance coverage) included an eligibility rejection. The center (gray) line within the chart pertains to non-financial knowledge processing innovations (2120s). The primary focus of 2120s examination has now shifted predominantly to points associated to AI simulation and modeling. The third and final (double blue) line within the chart represents all purposes. This totals line illustrates that round 9% of all closing rejections embody an eligibility focus. This is a rise from the two% charge in 2012. Notably, about half of the USPTO artwork items have an eligibility rejection charge of round 0%.
One concern with my examine right here method is the time issue. The vast majority of instances that obtain a closing rejection are no less than three years faraway from their efficient submitting date, and so more moderen filings may be doing a greater job. This examine was carried out based mostly on a pattern measurement of 100,000 closing rejections and is proscribed solely to publicly accessible information.
