Business method patents have recovered under the new 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance. As the graph above shows, allowances per office action (APOA) dropped from 17% before the 2014 Alice decision to 4% right after the Alice decision. APOA then increased to about 11% in 2017 when a new business method director, Tariq Hafiz was appointed. Tariq made a special point of encouraging examiners to allow cases if they genuinely felt the claims met the 101 guidelines set forth by the patent office. APOA rose to 17% in 2019 after the new 2019 Guidance came out in January. It is now back at its pre-Alice level of 17%. It’s still not easy to get a business method patent. An APOA of 17% implies that, on average, an applicant will have to respond to five rejections before getting an allowance. Nonetheless, it is now at least a realistic possibility to get a business method patent in a reasonable amount of cost and time.
Recent Posts
- Let’s Get Grateful: IP Stakeholders Reveal What They Were Thankful for in 2024
- False USPTO Narratives and the Urgent Need for PTAB Reform
- SCOTUS Invites SG to Weigh in on Cox/ Sony Cases, Denies Petition Charging Newman’s Removal Harms Patent Owners
- We Want Your Input on Content for IPWatchdog’s PTAB 2025 Program
- Other Barks & Bites for Friday, November 22: USPTO Bans Employees from Using Generative AI for Work Purposes; WIPO Member States Adopt New Design Law Treaty; DOJ Proposes Google Must Sell Chrome