Putting the Experience of Chinese Inventors into Context Richard Miller, Office of Chief Economist May 19, 2015
Outline Data and Methods Growth in PTO Filings Focus on foreign co-invention Patent examination findings Issue and citation rates
Data and Methods Data come from internal USPTO data systems Used by patent examiners at USPTO to manage the prosecution of applications on their dockets Data includes information on the applicants, the subject matter of the inventions, actions taken by examiners, applicant responses, current status, final disposition of the application, etc. Forward citations data from TAF
How do we determine country of origin? We define an application s country of origin as the country of residence of the application s first-named inventor. For example, an application is consider to be from China, if the residence of the first-named inventor is listed as mainland China. We do not include applications from Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan. Can include cases where foreign nationals living in China are first-named inventor
The Chinese Experience at USPTO GROWTH IN APPLICATION FILINGS AND FOREIGN CO-INVENTION
Regular Utility Application Filings to PTO from Mainland China, 2000-2011 10000 9000 8000 Number of applications 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Year of filing One Inventor Multiple:Chinese Only Multiple:Chinese + Other
Shares of Filings from Mainland China with Multiple Inventors and at Least One Non-Chinese Inventor, 2000-2011 100% 90% 80% Percentage of filings 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Year of filing One Inventor Multiple:Chinese Only Multiple:Chinese + Other
9.0% Percentage of Applications with at Least One Co-Inventor from Various Countries/Regions, by Year 8.0% 7.0% 6.0% 5.0% 4.0% 3.0% 2.0% 1.0% 0.0% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Other China USA EU Japan/S. Korea Other East Asia Other Note: Other China includes Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Note: Other East Asia includes the ASEAN countries and Mongolia Note: EU includes all EU members plus Switzerland
18.0% Percentage of applications with at least one foreign coinventor, South Korea and China high-growth periods 16.0% 14.0% 12.0% 10.0% 8.0% 6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0% 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 S. Korea China Note: The white bars indicate the results for South Korea for 1997-2006
Percentage of applications with at least one foreign coinventor, applications received 2012-2014 Japan South Korea Taiwan China Germany Canada United Kingdom India 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% Perent of applications with at least 1 foreign co-inventor
The Chinese Experience at USPTO A LOOK AT THE EXAMINATION OF RECENT FILINGS WITH COMPARISONS TO FILINGS FROM OTHER JURISDICTIONS
Comparison Groups Asian Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong/Macau, Other East Asian, India European Germany, United Kingdom, Other EU Countries Other Developed Canada, Australia/New Zealand
Patent Examination Trends Examination Milestones Repeat as Necessary Application Docketed with Examiner Allowed Rejected Appeal File RCE Initial Processing First Action On the Merits (FAOM) Abandon Applicant Response
Examination Milestones Getting to FAOM Repeat as Necessary Application Docketed with Examiner Allowed Rejected Appeal File RCE Initial Processing First Action On the Merits (FAOM) Abandon Applicant Response
Median Pendency from Filing to FAOM, for Applications with FAOMs between 2012 and 2014 Other East Asia Japan China Canada Australia/N Zealand India Taiwan South Korea Other European Union Hong Kong/Macau United Kingdom Germany 560 580 600 620 640 660 680 Median pendency from filing to FAOM (days)
Percentage of First Actions on the Merits That Are Allowances, 2012-2014 Taiwan Japan China Hong Kong/Macau Other East Asia Korea Other European Union India Canada Germany United Kingdom Australia/N Zealand 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18% Allowances as percentage of all FAOM
Examination Milestones Dealing with Rejection Repeat as Necessary Application Docketed with Examiner Allowed Rejected Appeal File RCE Initial Processing First Action On the Merits (FAOM) Abandon Applicant Response
Applicant Responses Final rejections aren t final, but they terminate initial examination Applicants must respond within 90 days Up to three 30-day extensions of time can be purchased. Requests for continued examination (RCEs) can be used to re-open an existing examination without filing a new application Applicants can also file appeals with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB)
Share of Final Rejections Followed by an Appeal within 6 Months, Final Rejections Issued 2005-12 United Kingdom Other European Union India Germany Other East Asia Canada Hong Kong/Macau Australia/New Zealand China Japan South Korea Taiwan 0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18% Percent of final rejections appealed
Share of Final Rejections Followed by an RCE within 6 Months, Final Rejections Issued 2005-12 Japan South Korea India Australia/New Zealand Other East Asia Canada Other European Union United Kingdom Germany Hong Kong/Macau China Taiwan 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Percentage of final rejections followed by RCEs
Examination Milestones Final Disposition Repeat as Necessary Application Docketed with Examiner Allowed Rejected Appeal File RCE Initial Processing First Action On the Merits (FAOM) Abandon Applicant Response
Median Pendency from Filing to Disposal, All Applications Abandoned between 2012-14 Hong Kong/Macau China Taiwan Australia/N Zealand Canada United Kingdom Other East Asia India Other European Union Japan South Korea Germany 750 800 850 900 950 1000 1050 Median pendency from filing to abandonment (days)
Median Pendency from Filing to Disposal, All Patents Issued between 2012-14 Taiwan China Japan Other East Asia Hong Kong/Macau South Korea Canada India Other European Union Germany Australia/N Zealand United Kingdom 800 850 900 950 1000 1050 1100 1150 1200 Median pendency from filing to issue (days)
Comparing Issue Rates by Country of Origin, Applications Disposed Between 2012 and 2014 Japan India Other East Asia South Korea Canada Germany Other European Union China United Kingdom Hong Kong/Macau Taiwan Australia/New Zealand 40% 45% 50% 55% 60% 65% 70% 75% 80% Allowances as a percentage of total disposals
Epilogue CITATION RATES
Average Number of 3-Year Forward Citations, by Country of Origin, Patents Issued Between 2001 and 2008 Canada Other East Asia Australia/New Zealand United Kingdom Hong Kong/Macau Japan China India Other European Union South Korea Taiwan Germany 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Average number of forward citations Note: Cited by patents issued by USPTO
Average Number of 5-Year Forward Citations, by Country of Origin, Patents Issued Between 2001 and 2008 Canada Other East Asia Australia/New Zealand United Kingdom Hong Kong/Macau Japan Other European Union China South Korea Taiwan India Germany 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Note: Cited by patents issued by USPTO
Summary The number of Chinese applications to USPTO has grown at a 31-percent annual rate since 2000. Compared to 6-percent rate for all international applications Foreign co-invention rate is comparable to those for applications from other countries Relatively short pendency to first action and disposal First action allowance rate is relatively high Relatively low use of appeals to USPTO Relatively low use of RCEs Average issue and forward citation rates
BACK UPS
Other East Asian Countries Singapore Malaysia Indonesia Thailand Cambodia Myanmar Vietnam Philippines Laos Mongolia Brunei
Other European Union Countries Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland
RCE rates by year of final rejection, selected countries, 2005-2012 70% 60% 50% RCE rate 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Year of final rejection China Japan Canada Germany Taiwan
Appeal rates by year of final rejection, selected countries, 2005-2012 25% 20% Appeal rate 15% 10% 5% 0% 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Year of final rejection China United Kingdom Canada Germany Taiwan
Change in Technology Mix, Applications to the PTO from Various Countries, 2000-02 to 2010-12 Percent of applications 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% (a) China Technology Area Percent of applications 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% (b) Other BRICS Technology Area 2000-02 2010-12 2000-02 2010-12 Percent of applications (c) Japan and South Korea 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% Technology Area 2000-02 2010-12 Percent of applications 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% (d) All Countries Technology area 2000-02 2010-12
The Geographic Mix of Applications from China, 2000-12 60% 50% Percent of applications 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 Guangdong Beijing Shanghai Jiangsu Zhejiang Other