Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) is a process of extending the term of a U.S. patent. Its intention is to accommodate for delays caused by the USPTO during the prosecution of a U.S. utility or plant patent application. The total PTA is an addition to the 20 year lifespan of the issued U.S. patent.
PTA was established by the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 and provides for day-for-day adjustment of a patent term (i.e., the period of time a patent is in force) for certain USPTO administrative delays ("the 14-4-4-4-36 timeframes") for certain patent applications. The specified timeframes require the USPTO to: issue an office action within 14 months after application filing, respond to a reply or an appeal within four months after the reply was filed or the appeal was taken, act on an application within four months after a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) or a decision by a federal court, issue a patent within four months after payment of an issue fee, and issue a patent within 36 months from the filing date of an application.
Total PTA Compliance
All Mailed Actions (%)
This measure shows the total PTA compliance, in all mailed actions, for all of the specified timeframes.
Remaining Inventory (%)
This measure shows the total PTA compliance, in all remaining inventory, for all of the specified timeframes.
Application Filing to First Action within 14 months (%)
This chart shows the percentage of patent applications that received their first action within fourteen months of its filing date.
Response to Amendment within 4 months (%)
This chart shows the percentage of patent applications that received a response within four months of an amendment.
Response to PTAB Decisions within 4 months (%)
This chart shows the percentage of patent applications that received a response within four months of a Patent and Trial Appeal Board (PTAB) decision.
Response to RCEs within 4 months (%)
This chart shows the percentage of patent applications that received a response within four months of filing an RCE.
Grant after Payment of Issue Fee within 4 months (%)
This chart shows the percentage of patent applications that received a grant within four months of receiving an issue fee.
Application Filing to Issue within 36 Months (%)
This chart shows the percentage of patent applications that were issued within three years of its filing date.
Amended Application Turnaround Time - Age in Weeks of Amendments Acted Upon in The Past Month
The chart above shows the number of amended patent applications that have been acted on by an examiner and returned to the applicant in the past month. (Note: Weeks with less than 100 applications are not displayed.)
An applicant may amend a patent application in response to any adverse action taken by a patent examiner. Amendments can be made after a final action by canceling claims or changing the application to comply with any requirement made necessary by an examiner’s action. The chart above shows the total number of amended applications that have been processed by examiners.
Pending Amended Inventory by Weeks Old
The chart above shows the pending amended inventory by weeks old. (Note: The weeks with less than 100 applications are not displayed.)