USPTO: Patent filings down
Posted by rokahn on 2009-March-25
PatentlyO cites USPTO that “New patent filings are down 16% so far in 2009.” and notes that patents were previously thought to be rather inelastic to price. Also cites a PTO announcement that all legal and technical studies programs have been suspended because of “budget constraints.”
In a subsequent post, “Toupin and the PTO have since rejected that number as a large overstatement and have indicated that they will provide better numbers shortly. The bottom line is still true – the PTO is experiencing a cash-shortfall and is cutting its own budget wherever it can.”
In a most recent post, PatentlyO received clarification from the USPTO:
both the original and continuation filings are down to around FY 04 levels. As compared to FY 08, original filings are on track to drop about 10% while continuations will likely be down over 20%. The large drop in continuation filing is likely an artifact due to the large number of continuations filed at the beginning of FY 08 in anticipation of the looming limits on continuation practice.
