Trends in First Action Pendency at the USPTO
As many may be familiar with, in recent years trademark pendency times at the USPTO have rapidly increased, with the average first action pendency time in Q1-Q4 of 2023 reaching over 8 months. The USPTO attributes this increase in pendency times primarily to the fact that it expected a slowdown in patent and trademark filings in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID pandemic (and so adjusted hiring targets downward), while actually seeing a substantial increase in trademark filings (as more people started their own companies or launched new products based on new and different opportunities for e-commerce and remote work).
The trend that has led to a near-quadrupling of pendency times started in Q4 2020, with the average pendency time for most of 2019-2020 being consistently around 2.5 to 3 months, as can be seen in the graph below.
Average First Action Pendency Q3 2019 – Q2 2022
Average First Action Pendency Q4 2021 – Q3 2024
Year to Date New Applications and Registrations
So far this year, there have been 338,915 new registrations and 564,474 new applications filed across all classes, which is an increase in 2.9% from filings in the same time period of 2023.
Overall, the increase in pendency and decrease in filings from the last two years appears to be reversing course, though it remains to be seen whether either trend will continue back to pre-pandemic norms. Maier & Maier includes experienced trademark counsel who can help with trademark filings and strategies based on the newest data and trends.