Trends in Patent Filing for Specific Technologies During the Pandemic

“COVID-19 Impact on Patent Filings: A Comparative Analysis Across Industries”

The Pandemic’s Impact on Patent Filings

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on various sectors of the global economy, including the patent industry. The effects of the pandemic on patent filings have varied dramatically across different industries. While filings in the computer areas have shown resilience, filings in the chemical and life science areas have taken a 20% hit.

With the U.S. stock market experiencing a historic pull-back and rebound within a few short months, and new unemployment filings reaching record highs, many companies have been forced to cut back on their expenses. This has resulted in an increase in patent application abandonments and a decrease in new patent applications, as companies look for ways to reduce their Intellectual Property (IP) expenditures.

Parsing the Data

To understand the extent of the impact of the pandemic on patent filings, data was requested from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The data was parsed by filing month and year, and by technology area.

The data showed that utility patent application filings dropped from 81,314 in Q4 of 2019 to 74,700 in Q2 of 2020, an 8% drop. This decrease was small compared to the changes that occurred in early 2013 when the American Invents Act went into effect, but it was greater than the Q4 to Q2 decrease seen 1 year earlier and 2 years earlier.

When looking at the changes in filings in specific technology centers, it was found that the filings in the computer-related technology centers were higher or essentially the same as those from Q4 2019. Meanwhile, a significant drop in filings was observed in the biological and chemical areas.

What Does it Mean?

The reasons for the decrease in patent application filings in some technology centers and the increase in others could be due to a variety of factors. One hypothesis is that the ability of inventors in different technology areas to continue working to support patent application filings during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic varied.

For instance, work in the biological and chemical areas may be less suited to work from home as efficiently as computer-related technology work. In many cases, biological and chemical operations require laboratories and complex equipment or processes that can only be performed in-person. On the other hand, computer-related technology work may be more adaptable to be performed remotely.

However, it is still too early to fully understand the impact of COVID-19 on the economy and on patent filings. The data may indicate that patent filings and discoveries were perhaps more resilient than had been expected. Many companies rapidly transitioned from in-person collaboration, hands-on equipment operation/experiments, and state-of-the-art computer networks to remote work. While some of the reported patent filings are likely a result of efforts that extend to pre-COVID times, the data indicates that discoveries and innovation-protection efforts remain strong in the United States even despite the drastic societal and business impacts of a pandemic.

This article was updated on November 6, 2020 to correct the comparison in Table 1, which is with Q4 2019 and not Q3 2019.

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About the Authors

Kate Gaudry is a Patent Attorney and a Shareholder in Mughal Gaudry & Franklin PC. Kate Gaudry focuses her practice on data-driven, efficient and strategic patent prosecution.

Adam Gianola, Ph.D., is a senior associate at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP. Dr. Gianola focuses his practice on patent prosecution and counseling in the fields of materials, optics, software.

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