老板会员

美国专利商标局发布2021财年绩效和责任报告：美国商标申请量再创新高

跨境鸭先知

我这个人很懒还没有签名哦!!

2022-01-15

近日，美国专利商标局发布了关于USPTO状况的年度绩效和责任报告(PerformanceandAccountabilityReport,PAR)。

近日，美国专利商标局发布了关于USPTO状况的年度绩效和责任报告(Performance and Accountability Report, PAR)。除了描述USPTO如何响应政府关于某些优先事项的指令和行政命令外，PAR还描述了USPTO在实现优化专利和商标质量和及时性的目标方面取得的进展，并为改善全球知识产权政策，执法和保护提供国内和全球化的领导。希望您能在这份文件中有所收获，并希望它能让您更深入地了解USPTO的活动和成就。

目标一.优化商标申请审查程序

Objective 1.Opptmize Trademark Application Pendency

Trademark operations are aligned with the USPTO’s strategic goal of optimizing trademark quality and timeliness. The agency implements U.S. trademark laws and regulations for the mutual benefit of consumers and businesses in accordance with the USPTO’s 2018-2022 Strategic Plan.

商标的运营与美国专利商标局优化商标质量和及时性的战略目标保持一致。美国专利商标局根据其2018-2022年的战略计划，为消费者和企业的共同利益实行美国商标法律和法规。

The USPTO received a historic 943,928 trademark application classes in FY 2021, eclipsing last year’s record total of 738,112 by 27.9%. Chinese and U.S. filers represented the leading drivers of that growth, accounting for about 61.5% and 31.1% of the increase respectively. The rest of the world is collectively responsible for the remaining 7.4%. Year-to-date growth of application classes in FY 2021 ranged between 71.3% and 27.5% each month. There is no one reason for this sustained growth. It is likely, however, that the following factors played a significant role: the growth of online sales during the pandemic, government stimuli and subsidies, anticipation of the USPTO’s fee increase on January 2, 2021, and a robust level of entrepreneurialism. Regardless of the cause, the impact on Trademarks operations has been significant.

美国专利商标局在2021财年共收到创纪录的943,928个商标申请，比去年创纪录的总数 738,112高出27.9%。中国和美国申请人是这一增长的主要推动力，分别占增长的61.5%和 31.1%。世界其他地区占7.4%。2021 财年年初至今的申请增长每月增幅在71.3%至27.5%之间。这种持续增长没有任何原因。然而，以下因素可能发挥了重要作用：疫情流行期间线上销售的增长、政府的刺激和补贴、美国专利商标局于2021年1月2日费用增长的预期，以及强劲的创业精神。无论原因如何，对商标业务的影响都是巨大的。

The surge in trademark filings has resulted in substantial increases in the USPTO’s trademark application pendency and other processing times in the cycle. First action pendency was 6.3 months in FY 2021, exceeding the optimum target range of 2.5-4.5 months. Prior to FY 2021, first actions on newly filed applications were routinely issued in less than 3.5 months annually, dating back to 2007. First action pendency measures the time between when the USPTO first receives a trademark application and when it is first pulled by an examining attorney for examination. Despite the agency’s success in prior years, the rising inventory of applications due to the record amount of filings has pushed first action pendency beyond the target range for the first time in nearly 15 years.

商标申请量的激增导致美国专利商标局的商标申请注册周期中的待审时间和其他业务处理时间大幅增加。2021财年的首次审查意见周期为6.3个月，超过了2.5-4.5个月的最佳目标范围。在2021财年之前，从2007年开始，每年对新提交申请的首次审查意见通常会在不到3.5个月的时间内发布。首次审查意见期衡量的是从美国专利商标局首次收到商标申请到首次被审查员驳回之间的时间。尽管商标局在前几年取得了成功，但由于申请量创纪录，未决案件不断增加，使首次审查意见时间在近15年来首次超出目标范围。

For final disposal, which measures from the date of filing to the date that the application was either registered or abandoned, the USPTO averaged 11.2 months. Despite the adverse impact on first action pendency, Trademarks successfully achieved the 12-month final disposal target, further extending its broad success of sustained optimal trademark pendency (see Tables 1 and 2). The achievement of optimal pendencies is a critical indicator for stakeholders because these milestones often impact business decisions. Taking aggressive steps to address the surge in a manner that seeks to return to optimal time frames has been and remains a core priority.

对于从提交日期到申请注册或无效日期的最终处置，美国专利商标局平均用时为11.2个月。尽管对首次审查意见造成不利影响，商标局仍成功实现了12个月的最终处置目标，进一步扩大了其持续优化待审商标的广泛成功（见表1和表2）。对利益相关者来说，实现最佳周期是一个关键指标，因为这些里程碑通常会影响业务决策。采取积极措施，设法回到最佳时限，解决激增问题，一直是并且仍然是核心优先事项。

TABLE 1: TRADEMARK AVERAGE FIRST ACTION PENDENCY (MONTHS)

表1：商标平均首次诉讼周期（月）

TABLE 2: TRADEMARK AVERAGE TOTAL PENDENCY (MONTHS)

表2：商标平均总花费（月）

The USPTO met the increases in application filings with a multifaceted strategy composed of:

• Reorganizing workloads among professional staff

• Expanding the output of the examining corps by hiring additional examining attorneys and increasing overtime

• Identifying and implementing options for streamlining work processes, including exploring the use of robotic process automation tools

• Launching a pilot program to add bandwidth with specialized contractors

美国专利商标局通过多方面的战略来应对申请量的增加，其中包括：

• 重新安排专业人员的工作量

• 通过雇用更多的审查员和增加加班时间来扩大审查团的产出

• 确定和实施简化工作流程，包括探索使用机器人流程自动化工具

• 启动专业审查协作机构等试点计划

目标二.颁布优质商标

Objective 2.Issue High-Quality Trademarks

Trademark examination quality is predicated on first and final office actions meeting certain legal and procedural standards. Quality reviews are completed on first office actions and on the examining attorney’s final action approval or denial of the registration of a given mark (see Tables 3 and 4). First and final action compliance rates were 96.3% and 98.7%, respectively, for FY 2021.

商标审查质量取决于符合特定法律和程序标准的首次和最终审查意见。质量审查是在首次审查意见和审查员批准或拒绝商标注册的最终行动时完成的（见表3和4）。2021财年的首次和最终审查意见合规率分别为96.3%和98.7%。

TABLE 3: TRADEMARK FIRST ACTION COMPLIANCE RATE

表3：商标首次审查意见合规率

TABLE 4: TRADEMARK FINAL ACTION COMPLIANCE RATE

表4：商标最终审查意见合规率

Quality measurement considers the application’s adherence to registrability standards and the comprehensive excellence of the office action itself, including research, writing, legal decision-making, and evidence. Trademarks routinely achieves its quality targets and has been able to sustain this high level of performance by standardizing training and feedback; promoting electronic filing and processing (which helps avoid manual data entry errors); increasing the use of online tools and enhanced processes; and adopting more rigorous, customer-centric measures.

质量衡量考虑了商标申请对可注册性标准的遵守情况以及审查意见本身的综合卓越性，包括研究、写作、法律决策和证据。商标局经常实现其质量目标，并能够通过标准化培训和反馈来维持这种高水平的绩效；推进电子归档和处理（这有助于避免手动数据输入错误）；增加使用在线工具和强化流程管理；并采取更严格、以客户为中心的措施。

Trademarks met all three quality targets in FY 2021, validating the effectiveness of the organization’s specialized training, online tools, and enhanced communication. This achievement is remarkable in light of the volume of the applications examined by the trademark attorneys and their need to work while handling the pressures caused by the pandemic.

商标局在2021财年实现了所有三个质量目标，验证了该组织的专业培训、在线工具和加强沟通的有效性。鉴于商标审查员审查的申请数量以及他们在应对疫情大流行带来的压力时需要努力工作，这一成就是显著的。

Trademarks’ most comprehensive quality measure, exceptional office actions, exceeded the annual target of 50% by achieving 54.1% in FY 2021. Table 5 illustrates the USPTO’s exceptional office action rates, which reflect its commitment to ongoing excellence in searching, developing supporting evidence, writing office actions, and communicating decisions. This success rate further demonstrates the USPTO’s holistic approach to quality.

商标最全面的质量衡量标准，即卓越审查意见，在2021财年达到了54.1%，超过了50%的年度目标。表5说明了美国专利商标局的特殊审查意见行动率，这反映了其致力于在检索、寻找支持证据、撰写审查意见书，并传达决定方面不断取得卓越成就。这一成功率进一步证明了美国专利商标局对质量的整体态度。

TABLE 5: EXCEPTIONAL OFFICE ACTION RATE

表5：卓越审查意见率

The value of the USPTO’s multifaceted training program for its trademark examining attorneys and support staff was demonstrated again this year in Trademarks’ ability to process applications in the wake of significantly increased workloads. New examining attorneys are trained in the classroom first and then work with a mentor for an extended period. In light of events this year, new examining attorneys were trained primarily virtually. Experienced examining attorneys are provided with continuing training and resources to support their performance. This training includes in-house legal training from the USPTO’s OTQRT and sessions on ongoing trademark case law updates and examination guidelines provided by the Legal Policy Office. The USPTO provides continuing legal education by outside lawyers and stakeholders on relevant industry topics and offers continued training on best practices for using IT when conducting research and best procedures for minimizing errors.

今年，美国专利商标局为其商标审查员和支持人员提供的多方面培训计划的价值再次体现在商标审查员在工作量显著增加后处理申请的能力上。新的审查员首先在课堂上接受培训，然后与导师长期合作。鉴于今年的事件，新的审查员主要接受线上培训。由于接受长期培训，经验丰富的审查员都能有出色表现。该培训包括来自美国专利商标局OTQRT的内部法律培训，以及由法律政策办公室提供的有关商标判例法持续更新和审查指南的课程。USPTO为外部律师和利益相关者提供有关行业主题的持续法律教育，并提供有关在进行研究时使用IT技术的最佳实践和最大程度地减少错误的最佳程序的长期培训。

The USPTO continues to engage stakeholders in verifying trademark quality findings, offering industry-specific training provided by user groups, and working with industry experts on updating identifications of goods and services. The USPTO hosts regular meetings and roundtables with outside constituent groups and provides a customer call center and an email address for direct communication with customers who provide valuable feedback on examination quality.

USPTO不断让利益相关者参与验证商标质量调查结果，提供由用户群体提供的特定行业培训，并与行业专家合作更新商品和服务项目。USPTO定期与外部团体举行圆桌会议，并提供客户呼叫中心和电子邮件地址，以便与对审查质量提供宝贵反馈的客户直接沟通。

Table 6 shows how the USPTO evaluates the efficiency of the trademark examination process as measured by the average cost of trademark disposal compared with the direct and indirect costs associated with trademarks.

表6显示了美国专利商标局如何评估商标审查过程的效率，以商标处理的平均成本与与商标相关的直接和间接成本进行比较。

TABLE 6: TOTAL COST PER TRADEMARK OFFICE DISPOSAL

表6：每次商标局处置的总成本