Non-Provisional Patent Applications
The Patent Office tracks pendency data for non-provisional utility patent applications. An example of how a common application might proceed based on that data is below. Note that most of the time is waiting for the Patent Office to take up the application. The Patent Office counts the end of the application as when the applicant gives up on the application or they issue a Notice of Allowance.
The up and down arrows represent different types of “disposals.” A “disposal” is essentially the completion of an examination cycle at the USPTO. If you are unhappy with the results of an examination cycle you can pay for an additional examination cycle form of a Request for Continued Examination (RCE).
A balance disposal is when an examiner examines an application from the first Office Action through disposal. A disposal action can be one of abandonment or allowance of the application, writing of an examiner’s Answer, or the filing of a Request for Continued Examination (RCE).
The Examiner Count System: Why Patent Examiners Are on Your Side nutter.com
If you get a Notice of allowance then you need to pay the issue fee before a patent will issue.
Utility and reissue patents are issued within about four weeks after the issue fee and any required publication fee are received in the Office.
USPTO patent process overview page
How long is the wait? The USPTO is broken into technology centers and the average wait varies by the technology center to which your invention gets assigned to along with other factors.
