Patent claims still on the increase

Patent Examiners spend their time searching for prior art and comparing claims in patent applications to the relevant prior art.  However, Examiners often feel a time-crunch — finding it difficult to have enough time to really dig in and understand both the claims and the prior art.  Of course, the number of claims in an application is a major factor in the amount of time it takes to review the claims.  According to the most recent Newsletter of the Patent Office Professional Association (POPA) and the Office of Inspector General, the number of claims per application has been on a steady rise for the past several years.

 

According to POPA, “Examiners would gladly accept this incremental increase [of 7% per year] in their time per case each year.”