The Patent Office is Getting Faster

I have some cases that have been pending for years and private PAIR still says that first action in the case is 60 months away.

However, I recently had a first Office action come a mere 111 days after the date of filing. The case was filed in October of last year and I received a full Office action in January of this year. This is for a utility application in the mechanical arts, and I also filed a Petition to Make Special due to the inventor’s age. I received approval for the Petition to Make Special on one day and the Office action the next.

My previous best was a 71 day period between filing and first action allowance for a design patent. It took twice as long to go from paying the issue fee to issuance than from paying the filing fee to allowance in that case.