New USPTO Examiner Count System Went Into Effect Last Week

In a change that could have a significant impact on US patent prosecution and patent quality, the USPTO implemented changes into the “count system”- the time and measurement system examiners are paid and measured on.  This effects how much time an examiner will spend on a task and how much she is rewarded for an outcome.





From the press release:

  The count system is the methodology for determining the amount of time in which a patent examiner is expected to complete a patent examination and the credit that is given for each stage of an examination.  These changes, announced in conjunction with the Patent Office Professional Association (POPA), the union that represents patent examiners, place emphasis on complete and thorough initial examination, and are expected to decrease redundancy and encourage quicker resolution of issues in the patent application process.  The new count system should result in earlier identification of patentable subject matter, which will benefit applicants while enabling the USPTO to function more efficiently.  (See count system press release at http://www.uspto.gov/news/pr/2009/09_19.jsp.)

It addresses the following areas of change:

• Improved working conditions:  The revised count system provides incentives to encourage examiners to do a high-quality first action, and shifts resources from a focus on examiner recertification to front-end quality improvements. This change in incentives will ultimately encourage examiners to dispose of applications more quickly.
• More time for examiners:  The changes will give examiners more time overall, more time for a first action on the merits, and time for examiner-initiated interviews, while decreasing credits on requests for continued examination (RCEs) and providing consistent credits for transferred or inherited amendments.
• Process changes:  These changes will increase work credit certainty for examiners, increase fairness to applicants, and balance the load on IT systems.

For an in-depth analysis see the Task Force Proposal 2009-09-30
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ahrpa/opa/documents/briefing_for_corps-final_draft-093009-external-jrb.pdf


Press Release : http://www.uspto.gov/news/pr/2010/10_08.jsp