U.S. Patent Statistics and Numbers for 2013

The USPTO issued 305,081 patents in 2013, an increase of 10.2 percent over 2012. The agency also published 347,148 utility and plant patent applications, an increase of 4.7 percent over the previous year. The total number of U.S. patent documents published in 2013 increased to 752,229, another all-time high. Table 1 shows the number of documents by type.

Table 1. US Patents by Type Issued in 2013*

Type	Total
Utility patents	279,899
Reissue patents	844
Design patents	23,479
Plant patents	846
SIRs	13
Applications	347,148

*Based on preliminary data from the USPTO website. Totals may change after the fact due to withdrawn patents and published applications. 

On August 6, the USPTO reached another milestone, issuing patent no. 8,500,000. Design patents are rapidly approaching the 700,000 mark; it is likely that D700,000 will be issued in February 2014. 

The USPTO abolished the Statutory Invention Registration (SIR) Program in March. The number of SIRs published during the 28 years the program was in existence was approximately 2,260. The number of SIRs per year has steadily decreased since the USPTO began publishing applications in 2001. Only 13 SIRs were published this year, almost twice as many as in 2012. 

Table 2. US Patent Number Ranges, Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2013

Type	First Number	Last Number
Utility patent	8,341,762	8,621,661
Reissue patent	RE43,844	RE44,688
Design patent	D673,356	D696,835
Plant patent	PP23,288	PP24,134
SIR	H2,274	H2,287
Utility application	2013/0000001	2013/347149
Plant application	2013/0007930	2013/347159

USPTO Adopts PDF for Patent Documents

The USPTO has adopted PDF as the default format for displaying patent documents from its databases, making it one of the last (if not last) of the major patent offices to switch to the world's most popular document image format. Since 1998, viewing US patent documents obtained from the USPTO website required the use of a TIFF plugin such as alternaTIFF or interneTIFF.

US Patent Milestone: 8,500,000

The USPTO reached another milestone on August 6, issuing patent no. 8,500,000 B2 to Elmer Berendas of Germany for a "Device for locking and unlocking the jalousie (rolling shutter) of a container."According to the patent, this type of container is commonly used in ATMs.

So far this year the USPTO has issued 173,546 utility patents, putting on track to issue more than 260,000 this year. At that rate the next milestone, patent no. 9,000,000, could be reached by early 2015.

USPTO Launches Global Patent Search Network

The USPTO has launched a new patent search system called the Global Patent Search Network (GPSN). Initial coverage includes Chinese published applications, patents, utility models from 2008 through 2011. Users can search patent documents in the English or Chinese language and retrieve full-text Chinese patents and machine translations.Additional Chinese patents and other national collections will be added over time.

Patent Milestone in August?

The USPTO is on track to issue patent no. 8,500,000 later this summer. At the current rate of about five thousand new patents each week, no. 8,500,000 should appear sometime in August. Patent no. 8,000,000 was issued on August 16, 2011, just two years ago. It took over 100 years, from 1790 to 1911, for the U.S. to issue its millionth patent. Since that time, the interval has been steadily decreasing. At the current rate patent no. 9,000,000 will issue in 2015.

U.S. Patent Milestones

Year No. Interval
2011 8,000,000 5 years
2006   7,000,000 7
1999 6,000,000 8
1991 5,000,000 15
1976 4,000,000 15
1961 3,000,000 26
1935 2,000,000 24
1911 1,000,000 121

China Leads US in Patent Applications

In 2011 China surpassed the US in patent application filings, according to data compiled by the World Intellectual Property Organization and reported in the Economist. The State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China (SIPO) received 526,412 applications in 2011, compared to slightly more than 500,000 at the USPTO and approximately 340,000 at the Japan Patent Office. In related news, the European Patent Office and SIPO recently announced that Chinese to English machine translation is now available in its Patent Translate service, which is integrated with Espacenet. An additional four million Chinese patent documents are now available in Espacenet.

Cooperative Patent Classification Available

The USPTO and EPO have released the new Cooperative Patent Classification system ahead of the January 1, 2013 implementation date. Details are available at the CPC website. Documentation includes the entire CPC scheme, an initial set of definitions and CPC concordances.

USPTO satellite offices; European patent moves forward

Big patent news from Europe and the US:


The USPTO is planning to open three new satellite offices in Dallas, Denver and Silicon Valley, bringing the total number of regional offices to four. The first USPTO satellite office will open in Detroit on July 13. By coincidence, July 13 is also the 176th anniversary of the first patent issued under the Patent Act of 1836, US 1. In establishing regional offices the USPTO hopes to make it easier for applicants to obtain patents in a timely manner and reduce its backlog of pending applications.

Across the Atlantic, negotiators agreed that the European patent court should be located in Paris with offices in Munich and London. This decision moves Europe one step closer to establishing a single European patent granted by the EPO.

Changes to US Patent Law - New Rules for Prior Art

There's a nice summary of the recent changes in U.S. patent law in the Jan. issue of Physics Today, and their relevance to academic scientists and engineers. The American Invents Act moves the U.S. from a first-to-invent system to a (modified) first-to-file system. Under the pure first-to-file system used by most countries, publication of an idea or invention prior to filing a patent application will prevent an inventor from obtaining a patent. The AIA retains a one-year grace period for publications authored by the inventor (the inventor's own work) or derived from the inventor's work. The article has a nice flowchart that explains how the one-year grace period works.

USPTO Series Code 13

The USPTO is now using series code 13 for patent application serial numbers assigned from the end of 2010 forward. The first application in the series, 13/000,001, was published on May 26, 2011 (2011/0121738A1). Series code 12 was in use from December 2007 to early 2011.

2011 U.S. Patent Statistics

In 2011 the USPTO issued 225,777 patents and published 321,181 applications for a total of 568,577 patent documents, a 1.5 percent decrease from 2010. The USPTO has published approximately 2.9 million utility and plant patent applications since March 15, 2001. Published applications now account for about 30 percent of all U.S. patent documents.


On August 16, 2011, the USPTO issued patent 8,000,000 to Second Sight Medical Products for a visual prosthesis apparatus. Patent 7,000,000 was issued on Feb. 14, 2006. The time interval between "millionth" patents has decreased to 5.5 years.

Table 1. Quarterly Patent Document Counts*
2011 ..... Patents (B) ..... PGPubs (A) ..... Total (A + B)
Q1 ..... 62,132 ..... 78,828 ..... 140,613
Q2 ..... 58,915 ..... 83,279 ..... 142,194
Q3 ..... 62,365 ..... 77,221 ..... 139,586
Q4 ..... 64,331 ..... 81,853 ..... 146,184

Table 2. Patent Number Ranges, Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2011*

Utility patents ..... 7,861,317 - 8,087,093 (225,777)
Reissues ..... RE42,020 - RE43,052 (1,033)
PGPubs ..... 2011/0000001 - 2011/0321,207 (321,181)
Designs ..... D629,996 - D651,375 (21,380)
Plants ...... PP20,816 - PP22,427 (1,612)
SIRs ..... H2,251-H2,265 (15)

*Based on preliminary weekly data from the USPTO website. Number totals may change due to withdrawn patents and published applications.

USPTO Resdesigns Website

The USPTO has updated its homepage, the first major redesign in more than five years. The new design is modern and eye-catching. Unfortunately, the search interface of the USPTO patent database looks like it did in 1999. 

Cooperative Patent Classification Project

The USPTO and EPO have launched a website for information about the Cooperative Patent Classification Project, which aims to create a shared patent classification system based on ECLA.

New Patent Library in Iowa

The Davenport Public Library is the newest member of the USPTO's library network and the first new site to be designated a Patent and Trademark Resource Center (PTRC). There are now 81 libraries in the network, which was formerly known as the Patent and Trademark Depository Library (PTDL) Program.

US Patent 8,000,000

On Tuesday, August 16, the USPTO issued patent no. 8,000,000 to Second Sight Medical Products for a visual prosthesis apparatus. The provisional application was filed on Oct. 19, 2006. Second Sight's patent portfolio consists of about 90 U.S. patents and published applications, plus more than 250 worldwide.

US Patent Counts, Q2 2011

The USPTO issued fewer patents but published more applications in the second quarter of 2011. The number of patents declined by 5.1 percent to 58,920. The number of published applications increased by 6.1 percent to 83,279. The USPTO has issued more than 120,000 patents in the first six months of 2011, a slight increase over the same period last year.

Table 1. Quarterly Patent Document Counts*
2011 ..... Patents (B) ..... PGPubs (A) ..... Total (A + B)
Q1 ..... 62,132 ..... 78,481 ..... 140,613
Q1 ..... 58,920 ..... 83,279 ..... 142,199


*Based on preliminary weekly data from the USPTO website. Totals may change after the fact due to withdrawn patents and published applications.

Table 2. Number Ranges, Jan. 1 through June 30, 2011

Utility patents ..... 7,861,317 - 7,971,266 (109,316)
Reissues ..... RE42,020 - RE42,509 (488)
PGPubs ..... 2011/0000001 - 2011/0078,838 (78,481)
Designs ..... D629,996 - D640,855 (10,843)
Plants ...... PP20,816 - PP22,000 (397)
SIRs ..... H2,251-H2,258 (8)

Happy 175th, U.S. Patent No. 1

July 13, 2011 was the 175th anniversary of the granting of U.S. patent no. 1, issued to Senator John Ruggles of Thomaston, Maine. Senator Ruggles was chair of the Committee on Patents and the Patent Office and the chief framer of the 1836 Patent Act, which came into force on July 4. The Act abolished the old patent registration system that had been in force since 1793 and re-introduced an examination system based on novelty and non-obviousness. Senator Ruggle's invention was a wheel traction system for steam locomotives. It has been cited in several patents including US 6,725,751, issued in 2004 for a "rotary punching apparatus".

USPTO Public Training Portal @ NTIS

NTIS is now offering public access to USPTO training materials used to train patent examiners and trademark attorneys. The catalogue includes about 70 modules of varying lengths.

PAIR Enhancement: Display References

The USPTO has enhanced its PAIR system (Patent Application Information Retrieval) by adding a tab for cited references under which is listed all references cited by the examiner and application, including patents and NPL (non-patent literature) documents. Cited US and foreign patent documents may be downloaded but not NPL (for copyright reasons).

US Patent Counts, Q1 2011

In the first quarter of 2011 the USPTO issued 62,132 patents, an increase of 1.7 percent from the previous quarter and 11.9 percent from the same period last year. The number of published applications declined by 4 percent from the previous quarter and was essentially unchanged from a year ago.

The USPTO is fast approaching its 8 millionth utility patent, which is likely to be issued in the second half of the year, probably in August. Patent 7,000,000, for a new type of polysaccharide fiber, was issued five years ago on February 14, 2006 to Dupont.

Patent No. 6,000,000 was granted on December 7, 1999 to inventors Jeff Hawkins and Michael Albanese. Their invention was a system for synchronizing files on two computers, the core technology of the Palm Pilot PDA, the first commercially successful hand-held electronic organizer. Palm was purchased by H-P for about $1.2 billion in 2010.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the first published patent application on March 15, 2001. Since that date the USPTO has published approximately 2,706,056 utility and plant patent applications. Published applications now account for about 30 percent of all U.S. patent documents.

Table 1. Quarterly Patent Document Counts*


2011 ..... Patents (B) ..... PGPubs (A) ..... Total (A + B)
Q1 ..... 62,132 ..... 78,481 ..... 140,613


*Based on preliminary weekly data from the USPTO website. Totals may change after the fact due to withdrawn patents and published applications.


Table 2. Number Ranges, Jan. 1 through Mar. 31, 2011


Utility patents ..... 7,861,317 - 7,917,966 (56,331)
Reissues ..... RE42,020 - RE42,264 (243)
PGPubs ..... 2011/0000001 - 2011/0078,838 (78,481)
Designs ..... D629,996 - D635,325 (5,326)
Plants ...... PP20,816 - PP21,833 (18)
SIRs ..... H2,251-H2,252 (2)