Patents

In February 2011, the average number of months from an initial patent application filing to the date an official action is first taken with respect to that application by the US Patent and Trademark Office was 24.5 months.  The goal of the US PTO is to get that number down to 10 months by 2015.  The average pendency - defined as the number of months from the initial application to the date the application has a final disposition is 34 months.  Goal is to get that down to 20 months by 2015.

In 2009, 482,871 patent applications were filed, and 244,341 patent applications were granted.  1009 of those patents granted were plant patents - 389 of those originated in the US, 620 outside the US.  The non-US country with the highest number of plant patents?  The Netherlands, followed by by Germany, Japan, and the UK.