The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is the authority within the USPTO that hears appeals of patent application rejections. Once the applicant decides that he or she wants to appeal an examiner's decision, his or her attorney must file a notice of appeal and prepare an appeal brief. The examiner then has the opportunity to reopen prosecution or to answer the appeal brief with his or her own arguments. If the examiner chooses the latter, the applicant may then respond with a reply brief. If no satisfactory outcome results from this process, the applicant can request an oral hearing before the PTAB to try and get the claims allowed. 

Continuing our alcohol, tobacco, and firearms series, we now turn our attention to perhaps the most stigmatized industry of all three: the tobacco industry.

Editor’s Note: Juristat doesn’t take a position in the software patentability debate. The views reflected in this piece are meant to be informative and do not necessarily reflect the views of Juristat or the authors themselves.

Technology Center 3700 covers a variety of different technologies, including manufacturing devices and processes, medical instruments, refrigeration, and machine and hand tools. Its average allowance rate is 65.0%, making it one of the more difficult technology centers in which to obtain a patent, given that the USPTO’s overall allowance rate is 72%. To be eligible for inclusion in this list, each firm must have disposed of at least 500 patent applications in TC 3700 in the 10-year period between 2006-2015. 

Technology Center 3600 covers a wide and diverse variety of technologies, including transportation, agriculture, aeronautics, and plant and animal husbandry. It is also the home of work groups focusing on business methods and e-commerce patents, which have seen their allowance rates plummet in the wake of Alice and several other Supreme Court and Federal Circuit cases within the last few years. The average allowance rate in TC 3600 is only 66.1%, which is well below the USPTO average of 72%.

Following up on our post from two weeks ago, the Top Firms in TC 2800, we now move on to the firms that receive the fewest office actions to allowance. Below, we’ve ranked the ten firms that receive the fewest office actions to allowance in TC 2800. To be eligible for inclusion, the firms must be based in the United States and have at least 500 disposed applications in the ten-year period between 2006 and 2015. 

Technology Center 2800 handles applications touching on semiconductors, memory, electrical circuits and systems, and optics, among others. Its average allowance rate is 82.3%, which is well above the USPTO average of 71%, making TC 2800 one of the easier tech centers to receive an allowance in. While its average allowance rate is rather high, the firms below manage to do even better. 

Continuing our study of the top firms in Technology Center 2600, we now move on to the firms that receive the fewest office actions to allowance. Below, we’ve ranked the ten firms that receive the fewest office actions to allowance in TC 2600. To be eligible for inclusion, the firms must be based in the United States and have at least 500 disposed applications in the ten-year period between 2006 and 2015. 

Technology Center 2600 handles communications generally, with more specific technological divisions including 3D animation, speech processing, digital cameras, and alarms. Its average allowance rate is 74.1%, which is in line with the USPTO average of 72%. To be eligible for inclusion on this list, each firm must have disposed of at least 500 applications in TC 2600 during the 10-year period between 2006 and 2015.