Rowan Analytics Insights
Patent Prosecution Analytics Benchmarking Report – August 2021
Analyzing 112 Rejections By Technology Center
This month we are again taking a look at the number of 112 rejections compared to the total number of Office actions received, this time analyzed by technology center. We wondered if there would be a consistent percentage of 112 rejections in each technology center? What we found was significant variation.
We studied 179,474 Office actions received between January and July 2021 by technology center. The next thing we studied were the 112 rejections. Of the total Office actions, 66,855, or 37%, contain a 112 rejection. Our next step was to break down those rejections by technology center, to see what percentage of the Office actions in each center received a 112 rejection. Our supposition was that If all sectors were equal in the prevalence of 112 rejections, we might find that 37% of the Office actions in each sector have received a 112 rejection. However, it turns out that certain sectors have a greater 112 rejection problem. We found that in four technology centers the percentage of 112 rejections was above average. This included biotechnology and organic, the highest at 52%, followed by mechanical at 48%. Chemical is next at 43%, with e-commerce/ transportation/ construction/ agriculture following at 40%. On the other end of the spectrum, where the percentage of 112 rejections by technology center was below average we found semiconductors/electrical at 29%, computer software at 25%, communications at 20% and computer networks at 19%.
We know that biotechnology/organic and chemical patent applications tend to be long and complex. Does it follow that such complexity leads to more rejections? Has the patent drafting process lacked the tools and process that enables efficient drafting of such complex applications?
The intricacy found in life sciences patent applications – those in the biotechnology/organic and chemical sectors – coupled with client demand has led Rowan Patents to invest more in the development of patent drafting software to assist these sectors. Our first release with new features for patent drafting in this this industry includes:
- R Group Management
- Chemical Structure and Data Import
- Sequence Management
- R-group and Sequence Consistency Checks
- Range Generation
- Combination Generation
As we learn more about the unique needs for patent drafting software to address chemical, biotechnology and pharmaceutical patent applications, we will continue to enhance Rowan Patents with additional features.
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Sources: USPTO, Rowan analysis
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