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U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
Patent Technology Monitoring Team (PTMT)

U.S. GOVERNMENT PATENTS
2008

- this report has been prepared with support from the National Science Foundation -

SUMMARY TABLE
PATENTS ASSIGNED TO U.S. GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS
AS DISTRIBUTED BY
DOCUMENT TYPE AND FISCAL YEAR OF GRANT
1978-2008 PATENT GRANTS

(patent ownership is determined by the first-named assignee listed on a patent)

Table A
Number of Patents Granted To U.S. Government Institutions
During Fiscal Years 1978 to 2008,
As Distributed By Document Type and Fiscal Year of Grant
(the fiscal year extends from October 1 to September 30;
e.g., fiscal year 2008 includes the period from October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008)
Patent
Type 		1978-19941995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Total
                                 
Utility 18294 1135 921 924 1015 956 983 963 901 904 912 675 786 726 692 30787
Design 13 3 1 4 3   1 2 4 3 1   3 3 3 44
Plant 1     1 1   1   4 4 2 2 2     18
Reissue 17   1 1   1 3 5     1   1 3   33
SIR/Defensive Publ. 848 53 38 26 12 16 8 38 21 9 10 9 21 11 9 1129
Total 19173 1191 961 956 1031 973 996 1008 930 920 926 686 813 743 704 32011

 

SUMMARY TABLE
PATENTS ASSIGNED TO U.S. GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS
AS DISTRIBUTED BY
DOCUMENT TYPE AND FISCAL YEAR OF APPLICATION
1978-2008 PATENT GRANTS

(patent ownership is determined by the first-named assignee listed on a patent)

Table B
Number of Patents Granted To U.S. Government Institutions
During Fiscal Years 1978 to 2008,
As Distributed By Document Type and Fiscal Year of Application
(the fiscal year extends from October 1 to September 30;
e.g., fiscal year 2008 includes the period from October 1, 2007 to September 30, 2008)
Patent
Type 		Pre-1995 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Total
                                 
Utility 20633 1260 920 965 875 899 966 1006 933 831 693 500 236 69 1 30787
Design 17 2 2 3 2   3 4 2   4 2 2 1   44
Plant 1 1 1 1     3 6 2 1 2         18
Reissue 20 1 2 2 2   2   1   3         33
SIR/Defensive Publ. 954 28 23 21 26 13 17 9 14 14 6 3 1     1129
Total 21625 1292 948 992 905 912 991 1025 952 846 708 505 239 70 1 32011

Considerations Regarding Patents As Distributed By Year of Application (Table B)

DATA FOR THOSE APPLICATIONS WHICH WERE FILED BUT NEVER ISSUED (HISTORICALLY ABOUT 25% OF TOTAL FILINGS) ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THIS TABLE.

Since the average time period between filing for a patent and the issuing of the patent (i.e., the patent's "pendency") is now about 32 months (for utility patents), the patent grant data, as distributed by year of application, are incomplete for the most recent years that are displayed in this table. This is because this report includes patents granted only through September 30, 2008- a significant number of the applications that were filed in the most recent years displayed in this table were still pending as of September 30, 2008, and will eventually be patented sometime after September 30, 2008.

Patented application data are of significant value since the date an application was filed more accurately reflects when the technology was developed. Additionally, fluctuations in data based on application date are much more likely to reflect changes in technological activity since, for the most part, such fluctuations would be immune from changes in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) processing such as occurred in years such as 1986 when the USPTO issued fewer patents than would have normally been expected due to a lack of funds to print patents. Note that a patent's "pendency" can be quite variable from one patent to another, thereby affecting the date of patent grant. Such variation in pendency is determined by many factors, including PTO workload (which varies between technologies), budget and manpower levels, patent printing schedules, etc. Please note that types of patent documents such as design patents, plant patents, reissue patents, statutory invention registrations, and defensive publications may have average pendency periods that differ somewhat from the pendency period for utility patents.

For example, in a calendar year report profiling utility patents granted through December 2008, patent grant data, as distributed by year of application, are approximately 98% complete for patent applications filed in calendar year 2000, 93% complete for calendar year 2001 filings, 90% complete for calendar year 2002 filings, 78% complete for calendar year 2003 filings, 60% complete for applications filed in 2004, 37% complete for applications filed in 2005, and 17% complete for applications filed in 2006. They are essentially complete for applications filed prior to calendar year 2000. Please note that average pendencies for other patent document types will differ somewhat from the pendency figures for utility patents. Completion percentages for fiscal year statistics should be similar to those for calendar year statistics.

 

PTMT Contacts

Questions regarding these reports should be directed to:

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Electronic Information Products Division- Patent Technology Monitoring Team
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

tel: (571) 272-5600
fax: (571) 273-0110
email: oeip@uspto.gov

address of PTMT Internet pages :
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/tafp.html
selected PTMT files available for download at : http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/data/

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