USPTO seeks comments on patent application pendency

Seriously.  They'd like your thoughts on the following important questions:

1. Are the current targets of ten month average first action patent pendency and twenty month average total patent pendency the right agency strategic targets for the USPTO, stakeholders, and the public at large? If not, what are the appropriate average first action patent pendency and average total patent pendency targets, and what is the supporting rationale for different targets?

2. ... Should the USPTO have first action pendency and total pendency targets be met by nearly all applications (e.g., 90 or 95 percent of applications meeting the pendency target) rather than an average first action pendency and total pendency targets? If so, what should the percentage be and why?

3. Should the USPTO consider more technology level patent pendency targets, for example, at the Technology Center level? If so, should all the Technology Centers have the same target? If not, please explain why Technology Centers should have different pendency target levels and how they should be determined?

4. The American Inventors Protection Act (AIPA) provides for patent term adjustment for certain examination delays. ...Should the USPTO consider using a first action pendency target tied to minimizing the number of applications in which a first action is not mailed within fourteen months? ...Should the USPTO also consider using some of the other [Patent Term adjustment]-specific timeframes for their optimal pendency targets?  [IOW, since we've set up this system to rate our performance for purposes of patent term adjustments, should we be using those times, as opposed to some totally different set of times, just because?]

5. ...a USPTO policy to encourage completing first office actions too soon after the filing date of an application does not allow for the publication of all pertinent patent prior art and for the appropriate window for third party prior art submissions. Would the benefits of a prompt first Office action outweigh potential concerns of the Office action being issued too quickly? [when has this ever happened?]

6. [Comment on the following:]  

a. Some potentially significant case law decisions are pending which may impact large categories of inventions and possibly lead to reduced patent filings.

b. It has been just over one year since patent fees were adjusted. ...User practices and business decisions based on the adjusted fee levels may not have stabilized yet.

c. There is a lot of activity in the global IP arena which may impact patent filing activity and IP practices in the United States.

7. What other metrics should the USPTO consider utilizing to measure pendency or timeliness throughout the examination process?

Send your comments to patent_pendency2014@uspto.gov.