United States Patent and Trademark Office: Closing the Gap on Pendency in Class 705 Business Methods

Abstract

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) experiences overwhelming demand for patents in Class 705: Business Methods. The current resources and process design are not sufficient to handle the incoming patents, and the result is extremely long wait times for patents to be granted. This technical note describes the history of the USPTO, the Business Methods Class, and the process for granting patents.

Excerpt

UVA-OM-1358

Nov. 25, 2008

The United States Patent and Trademark Office:

Closing the Gap on Pendency in Class 705 Business Methods

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency of the U.S. federal government within the Department of Commerce. It is a performance or production-based organization that receives fees from its users to fully fund its operations.

The foundation of the USPTO was outlined in the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, clause 8: “Congress shall have power … to promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”

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Keywords: Process design and analysis, process improvement, queueing