Patent quality metrics

This page provides an overview of the latest patent quality statistics from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). We are committed to providing high quality, efficient examination of patent applications.

Note that all data on this page is calculated by fiscal year.

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Quality

Quality of examiner's reports

Across the Branch, an average of 15% of examiner's reports are reviewed by an Examination Section Head in order to ensure the reports are complete and correct.

Table 1: Non-compliant examiner's report rate (%)
Fiscal Year 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023Footnote *
Non patentable subject matter correctly identified by examiner < 2.7 <2.3 <3.4 <2.7 1.6
Art cited has a valid citation date < 0.6 <0.6 <0.6 <0.7 0.6
The art cited is cited under the correct paragraph of the Patent Act < 0.7 <0.6 <0.9 <0.7 0.4
The argumentation regarding novelty/obviousness presented in the report is reasonable < 1.5 <1.5 <1.8 <1.4 0.9
Claims are correctly identified with respect to anticipation and obviousness < 1.4 <1.0 <1.6 <1.6 1.2

Quality of applications proceeding to allowance

Applications ready to proceed to allowance are reviewed by an Examination Section Head to confirm that no defects remain. Approximately 20% of such applications are reviewed.

Table 2: Non-compliant application proceeding to allowance rate (%)
Fiscal Year 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023Footnote *
Claims proceeding to allowance are directed to patentable subject matter <0.9 <0.7 <1.0 <0.9 0.7
Claims proceeding to allowance are novel and unobvious <0.8 <0.5 <0.4 <0.7 0.5
Previous defects were resolved by way of argument or amendment <0.3 <0.3 <0.2 <0.4 0.2
Throughout the prosecution, all defects were identified in the earliest possible report <2.8 <3.2 <3.0 <3.5 2.2

Examination search report

A search report is created with every office action. These search reports are reviewed by an Examination Section Head in order to ensure that the search is appropriate or, where applicable, has been deferred.

Table 3: Non-compliant examination search report rate (%)
Fiscal Year 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023Footnote *
The search strings were deemed appropriate and complete <1.5 <0.9 <1.0 <1.2 1.0
Table 4: Percentage of examiner's reports where search is deferred (%)
Fiscal Year 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023
Examiner deferred search 6.7 6.8 6.7 7.1 7.2

Timeliness

Pendency

Pendency is the amount of time between the request for examination date and the grant/issue of a patent application. The pendency of an application is affected by various factors including complexity of subject matter, examiner workload, and timeliness of applicant response, among others. CIPO strives to reduce the pendency of applications in order to provide applicants with timely service.

Table 5: Pendency Average (months)
Fiscal Year Biotechnology Electrical Mechanical Organic Chemistry General Chemistry Average
2018-2019 51.4 34.5 26.3 31.6 31.4 32
2019-2020 49.9 33.2 25.7 31.2 30.9 31
2020-2021 47.1 34.0 26.3 31.8 31.8 31.4
2021-2022 44.0 33.0 25.9 30.7 31.4 30.8
2022-2023 43.3 33.2 27.5 30.3 28.1 30.8

Efficiency

Patent Branch calculates the average number of examiner's reports before allowance in order to identify trends in prosecution. The number of reports varies by discipline and is affected by factors such as use of accelerated examination programs, length of an application, and claim scope, among others.

Table 6: Efficiency (number of examiner's reports before allowance)
Fiscal Year Biotechnology Electrical Mechanical Organic Chemistry General Chemistry Average
2018-2019 2.7 1.7 1.3 1.8 1.8 1.7
2019-2020 2.7 1.7 1.3 1.9 1.7 1.7
2020-2021 2.6 1.8 1.4 1.9 1.9 1.7
2021-2022 2.3 1.8 1.4 1.9 1.8 1.7
2022-2023 2.3 1.7 1.3 1.6 1.6 1.6

Online Feedback

CIPO's online feedback mechanism is one of the official ways in which applicants may contact us. CIPO is committed to responding to all feedback within five business days of receipt. The Patent Branch evaluates data relating to feedback regularly to identify areas for improvement.

Table 7: Online Feedback
Fiscal Year 2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-2022 2022-2023
Number of transactions registered 397 1439 3488 4245 4561
Transactions replied to within 5 business days (%) 74 79 77 69 74

You can find more information on how CIPO strives to serve patent clients on our Canadian IP statistics page or on one of the following pages:

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