Until 1999, USPTO was required to keep in confidence submitted patent  applications, and applicants had no enforceable patent rights before the  issue date of the patent. If, for example, such an application was  abandoned 9 months after it was published, then USPTO’s database would  show that the application was abandoned in 15 months-–the number of  months that had passed since the application had been filed in the U.S.-– rather than the 27 months that had passed since the application had been  first filed anywhere. The 1999 act allows all inventors not intending to seek patent protection  abroad to request that USPTO publish the application only when it issues  the patent. Our analysis of USPTO’s database  indicates that of the approximately 805,000 applications USPTO received,  applicants certified they would apply for a patent only in the United States  in about 80,000 applications. Although about 88,000 applications originally  included this certification in their applications, about 8,000 applicants later  rescinded this certification. In about 275,000 applications, the applicants indicated they  had applied for a patent in another country. USPTO’s database does not provide the information needed to determine  definitively whether the applicants for the remaining 450,000 applications  intended to apply for a patent only in the United States or in both the  United States and abroad. Some Differences Exist between Published and Unpublished Applications

We found four differences between the published and unpublished  applications filed with USPTO between November 29, 2000, and November  28, 2003. First, USPTO published, or plans to publish, applications filed by  inventors qualifying as large entities at a somewhat higher rate (85 percent)  than those filed by inventors qualifying as small entities (74 percent). Of the approximately 456,000 applications USPTO published,  about 70 percent are still pending, about 22 percent were issued patents,  and 8 percent were considered abandoned. Similarly, of the approximately  117,000 applications USPTO did not publish, about 56 percent are still  pending, about 25 percent were issued patents, and 19 percent were  considered abandoned. For a summary of these differences, see table 1. In these cases, USPTO does not  publish the application because the issued patent will itself be published  and become public information. As a result, the median length of time for  unpublished patents is less. Fourth, for applications considered abandoned, the median length of time  between filing and abandonment was longer for published applications  (about 18 months) than for those not published (about 8 months). Scope and Methodology

To provide information on the patent applications affected by the American  Inventors Protection Act of 1999, we analyzed data obtained from the U.S.  Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Patent Application Location and  Monitoring system (PALM). For the remaining 56  percent of the cases, USPTO’s database does not provide the information  needed to determine whether the applicants have filed or intend to file in  the United States alone or also in another country.
Why GAO Did This Study

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) receives over 300,000 patent applications each year. Before the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999, USPTO was required by law to keep the information on patent applications confidential until a patent was granted. The act modified this requirement and mandated that USPTO publish most patent applications 18 months after filing. One exception to this requirement is available to patent applicants filing only in the United States. These applicants can request that their application not be published. The act required GAO to provide information on how patent applications have been affected by the 18-month publication provisions. GAO was required to determine (1) the number of patent applications filed only in the United States, and (2) whether certain differences exist between published and unpublished patent applications. Specifically, GAO examined differences relating to whether the applicant was a large or small entity, the percentage of patents issued by USPTO and applications abandoned by the applicants, and the length of time between filing an application and when USPTO issued a patent or the application was abandoned.

What GAO Found

Of the approximately 805,000 patent applications USPTO received between November 29, 2000, and November 28, 2003, about 88,000 were filed by applicants certifying they would apply for a patent only in the United States. Subsequently, 8,000 of these applicants rescinded this certification. For about 275,000 applications, the applicants indicated they had already applied for a patent abroad. For the remaining 450,000 applications, USPTO's database does not provide the information needed to determine whether the applicants intend to file in the United States alone or also abroad. GAO found four differences between the published and unpublished patent applications that USPTO received between November 29, 2000, and November 28, 2003. USPTO has published or plans to publish applications from about 85 percent of the applicants qualifying as large entities compared with only about 74 percent of those qualifying as small entities. USPTO issued patents to about 22 percent of the applications it had published and considered about 8 percent abandoned, although resolution for most of the approximately 456,000 published patent applications is still pending. For applications it did not publish, USPTO issued patents to about 25 percent and considered about 19 percent abandoned, although resolution for most of these approximately 117,000 applications is also still pending. The median length of time for the agency's review of an issued patent was about 20 months for those applications that had been published and about 15 months for those not published. The median length of time between filing and abandonment of an application was about 18 months for published applications and about 8 months for those not published.