USPTO回应近期商标审查变慢
3094
1
Do you have an initial application, response or other filing that hasn’t been assigned or reviewed yet?
各位美国商标申请人，您是否有申请、答复或者其他案件还没被审查到或分配给审查员？
The United States Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO) recently announced trademark data for the second quarter of fiscal 2021 (January 1, 2021 to March 31, 2021, the Q2 2021).
美国商标专利局（下称USPTO）近期公布2021财年第二季度（2021年1月1日至2021年3月31日，下称第二季度）商标数据。
The number of trademark applications in the second quarter reached a new high. The total number of trademark applications in the Q2 2021 was 484,230 (counted by application classes), of which 271,488 were by TEAS Plus (selecting goods/service items from IDManual of USPTO), and 183,957 were by TEAS Standard (freely describing goods/service items) , and other 28,785 applications were from the Madrid Protocol. It increased significantly by all methods, compared with the Q1 2021.
第二季度商标申请量再创新高。二季度商标申请总量484,230件（按申请类别计数），其中规范申请（TEAS Plus，从IDManual中选择商品/服务项目）271,488件，非规范申请（TEAS Standard，自由描述商品/服务项目）183,957件，通过马德里国际局（Madrid）申请28,785件。各项数据均较第一季度大幅增长。
As the number of applications continues to rise, but human resources were insufficient, the USPTO's backlog of pending cases was increasing. As of the end of the Q2 2021, there have been more than 1,179,000 application cases pending for First Action (FA,to decide whether the application to be confirmed for publication or refused) or awaiting examination, increasing nearly 14% than Q1 2021.
由于申请量持续走高，但人力资源不足，USPTO积压的未决案件越来越多。截至第二季度末，待审或者未下发首次审查决定(First Action,下称FA，即决定商标通过审查进入公告或者被驳回)的申请案件已达1,179,000余件，创历史新高，比第一季度增长近14%。
The below chart shows that in the Q2 2021, it averagely took 4.7 months (about 140 days) from the application (including those from Madrid) to the issuance of FA by the USPTO. This number is the historical extreme value of the USPTO in the past three years, and its goal is 2.5-4.5 months (about 75-135 days). (In my article "United States Patent and Trademark Office Releases 2020 Annual Report for Fiscal Year", the USPTO also mentioned that its First Action Pendency Target is 2.5-3.5 months.)
数据显示，第二季度，从申请人提交申请（含马德里指定美国）至USPTO下发FA需时4.7个月（约140天），这个数字为USPTO近三年来的历史极值，而其目标是2.5-4.5个月（约75-135天）。（在笔者年初的文章《美国专利商标局发布2020财年年报》中，USPTO还提到其初审时限目标是2.5-3.5个月。）
Regarding the examination of trademark renewal, the USPTO has set a target of 30 days, but since the third fiscal quarter of 2018, the examination time has been increasing. After a short drop to 29 days in the fourth quarter of 2020, it was extended to 48 days in the Q1 2021. In the Q2 2021, it reached 66 days averagely.
关于商标续展的审查，USPTO制定的目标为30天，但自2018年第三财季开始，审查时间一路走高，在2020年四季度短暂回落到29天之后，2021年第一季度延长到48天，第二季度更是达到66天。
For this situation, the USPTO published its special response.
对此，USPTO专门发文作出回应。
We understand your frustration. We’ve been experiencing an unprecedented surge in new applications over the past six months that has also resulted in a surge in responses to office actions and processing post-registration filings.
我们了解您的无奈。在过去的六个月中，我们一直在经历着前所未有的新申请数量激增，这也导致了审查意见答复和注册后案件的数量激增。
As a result of this surge, you may experience longer than normal wait times in the following circumstances:
因此，在以下情况下，您可能要比正常情况等待更长时间：
· New application in the Trademark Status & Document Retrieval (TSDR) systemInitial applications generally appear in TSDR in about a week. However, with our current delays in pre-examination, it may take between 60 and 80 days for us to complete our internal review of the new application and enter additional data such as design codes and pseudo trademark information.Additionally, if the trademark drawing code or design codes are missing, you won’t be able to use the TEASi pre-populated Application for International Registration until our pre-examination unit provides the information.
· 新申请录入商标状态及文件检索（TSDR）系统
新申请一般在一周内会被录入TSDR。但由于我们目前预审（pre-examination）延迟，目前需要60-80天才能完成对新申请的内部审查并录入维也纳分类编码等其他数据。此外，若缺少商标图形编码，在我们预审部门提供该信息之前，您将无法使用商标国际注册电子申请系统（Trademark Electronic Application System, international，下称TEASi）预先生成的国际注册申请书。
· Trademarks appearing in Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)Initial applications generally appear in TESS in about a week. However, if your application does not include the international class, it is taking between 60 and 80 days to appear in TESS. You can view our filing upload schedule.
· 商标出现在商标电子查询系统（TESS）
新申请一般在一周内出现在TESS中。但若您的商标不含国际分类，则需要60-80天才能出现在TESS中。您可以查看我们的申请上传时间表。
· New application assigned to attorneyHistorically, new applications have been reviewed by an attorney between two and three months after the application is filed. With the huge surge in filings, our unexamined application inventory is much higher and it’s taking between four and five months to examine initial applications.
· 新申请分配给审查员
往常新申请会在两到三个月内分配给审查员。在由于近期申请量激增，我们的待审案件积压较多，目前需要四到五个月才能由审查员审查。
· Responses to office actionsProcessing times for responses to office actions normally average about 14 days. Currently, processing may take 90 days or more. Processing times for post-registration maintenance filing backlogs normally average about 30 days. Currently, processing may take about 60 days.
· 审查意见答复
通常，审查意见答复的处理平均需时14天，但目前需要90天甚至更长的时间。处理注册后维护案件（如提交五年、十年使用声明，续展等）一般需要30天左右，但目前则在60天左右。
Current Trademark Processing Waits
目前商标审查需时
As of April 2021 2021年4月 | Pendency Target (days) 审限目标（天） | Current Pendency (days) 目前审查时间（天） |
Pre-Examination Unit 预审部门 | ||
TEAS 商标电子申请系统 | 10 | 79 |
MADRID 马德里指定美国 | 10 | 1 |
Examination Support Unit (ESU) 审查支持部门 | ||
Amendments/Corrections 补正/修正 | 14 | 104 |
Intent to use 意向使用 | ||
Extension requests 延期请求 | 15 | 7 |
Statement of use 使用声明 | 15 | 11 |
Divisional requests 分割请求 | 15 | 16 |
Petitions Office 申诉办公室 | ||
Letters of protest 反对书 | 60 | 57 |
Post Registration 注册后 | ||
Affidavits of Use/Incontestability 使用宣誓/不可抗辩宣誓 | 30 | 78 |
Renewals 续展 | 33 | 69 |
Amendments/Corrections 补正/修正 | 30 | 25 |
Assignment 转让 | ||
ETAS 电子转让申请系统 | 2 | 4 |
Fax 传真 | 10 | 6 |
Paper 纸质申请 | 14 | 6 |
We trust this information sheds some light on our current challenges to keep up with the demand of registering your trademark. We’re taking numerous actions to improve our current wait times. We’ll be keeping this data up-to-date to reflect any fluctuations in our wait times.
我们相信，这些信息可以帮助我们了解当前面临的挑战，以适应您注册商标的需求。 我们正在采取多种措施来减少当前的（审查）等待时间。我们将时刻更新以上数据，以反映我们等待时间的任何波动。
参考网站：
https://www.uspto.gov/dashboard/trademarks/
https://www.uspto.gov/dashboard/ttab/
https://www.uspto.gov/dashboard/trademarks/application-timeline.html
1
Do you have an initial application, response or other filing that hasn’t been assigned or reviewed yet?
各位美国商标申请人，您是否有申请、答复或者其他案件还没被审查到或分配给审查员？
The United States Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO) recently announced trademark data for the second quarter of fiscal 2021 (January 1, 2021 to March 31, 2021, the Q2 2021).
美国商标专利局（下称USPTO）近期公布2021财年第二季度（2021年1月1日至2021年3月31日，下称第二季度）商标数据。
The number of trademark applications in the second quarter reached a new high. The total number of trademark applications in the Q2 2021 was 484,230 (counted by application classes), of which 271,488 were by TEAS Plus (selecting goods/service items from IDManual of USPTO), and 183,957 were by TEAS Standard (freely describing goods/service items) , and other 28,785 applications were from the Madrid Protocol. It increased significantly by all methods, compared with the Q1 2021.
第二季度商标申请量再创新高。二季度商标申请总量484,230件（按申请类别计数），其中规范申请（TEAS Plus，从IDManual中选择商品/服务项目）271,488件，非规范申请（TEAS Standard，自由描述商品/服务项目）183,957件，通过马德里国际局（Madrid）申请28,785件。各项数据均较第一季度大幅增长。
As the number of applications continues to rise, but human resources were insufficient, the USPTO's backlog of pending cases was increasing. As of the end of the Q2 2021, there have been more than 1,179,000 application cases pending for First Action (FA,to decide whether the application to be confirmed for publication or refused) or awaiting examination, increasing nearly 14% than Q1 2021.
由于申请量持续走高，但人力资源不足，USPTO积压的未决案件越来越多。截至第二季度末，待审或者未下发首次审查决定(First Action,下称FA，即决定商标通过审查进入公告或者被驳回)的申请案件已达1,179,000余件，创历史新高，比第一季度增长近14%。
The below chart shows that in the Q2 2021, it averagely took 4.7 months (about 140 days) from the application (including those from Madrid) to the issuance of FA by the USPTO. This number is the historical extreme value of the USPTO in the past three years, and its goal is 2.5-4.5 months (about 75-135 days). (In my article "United States Patent and Trademark Office Releases 2020 Annual Report for Fiscal Year", the USPTO also mentioned that its First Action Pendency Target is 2.5-3.5 months.)
数据显示，第二季度，从申请人提交申请（含马德里指定美国）至USPTO下发FA需时4.7个月（约140天），这个数字为USPTO近三年来的历史极值，而其目标是2.5-4.5个月（约75-135天）。（在笔者年初的文章《美国专利商标局发布2020财年年报》中，USPTO还提到其初审时限目标是2.5-3.5个月。）
Regarding the examination of trademark renewal, the USPTO has set a target of 30 days, but since the third fiscal quarter of 2018, the examination time has been increasing. After a short drop to 29 days in the fourth quarter of 2020, it was extended to 48 days in the Q1 2021. In the Q2 2021, it reached 66 days averagely.
关于商标续展的审查，USPTO制定的目标为30天，但自2018年第三财季开始，审查时间一路走高，在2020年四季度短暂回落到29天之后，2021年第一季度延长到48天，第二季度更是达到66天。
For this situation, the USPTO published its special response.
对此，USPTO专门发文作出回应。
We understand your frustration. We’ve been experiencing an unprecedented surge in new applications over the past six months that has also resulted in a surge in responses to office actions and processing post-registration filings.
我们了解您的无奈。在过去的六个月中，我们一直在经历着前所未有的新申请数量激增，这也导致了审查意见答复和注册后案件的数量激增。
As a result of this surge, you may experience longer than normal wait times in the following circumstances:
因此，在以下情况下，您可能要比正常情况等待更长时间：
· New application in the Trademark Status & Document Retrieval (TSDR) systemInitial applications generally appear in TSDR in about a week. However, with our current delays in pre-examination, it may take between 60 and 80 days for us to complete our internal review of the new application and enter additional data such as design codes and pseudo trademark information.Additionally, if the trademark drawing code or design codes are missing, you won’t be able to use the TEASi pre-populated Application for International Registration until our pre-examination unit provides the information.
· 新申请录入商标状态及文件检索（TSDR）系统
新申请一般在一周内会被录入TSDR。但由于我们目前预审（pre-examination）延迟，目前需要60-80天才能完成对新申请的内部审查并录入维也纳分类编码等其他数据。此外，若缺少商标图形编码，在我们预审部门提供该信息之前，您将无法使用商标国际注册电子申请系统（Trademark Electronic Application System, international，下称TEASi）预先生成的国际注册申请书。
· Trademarks appearing in Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)Initial applications generally appear in TESS in about a week. However, if your application does not include the international class, it is taking between 60 and 80 days to appear in TESS. You can view our filing upload schedule.
· 商标出现在商标电子查询系统（TESS）
新申请一般在一周内出现在TESS中。但若您的商标不含国际分类，则需要60-80天才能出现在TESS中。您可以查看我们的申请上传时间表。
· New application assigned to attorneyHistorically, new applications have been reviewed by an attorney between two and three months after the application is filed. With the huge surge in filings, our unexamined application inventory is much higher and it’s taking between four and five months to examine initial applications.
· 新申请分配给审查员
往常新申请会在两到三个月内分配给审查员。在由于近期申请量激增，我们的待审案件积压较多，目前需要四到五个月才能由审查员审查。
· Responses to office actionsProcessing times for responses to office actions normally average about 14 days. Currently, processing may take 90 days or more. Processing times for post-registration maintenance filing backlogs normally average about 30 days. Currently, processing may take about 60 days.
· 审查意见答复
通常，审查意见答复的处理平均需时14天，但目前需要90天甚至更长的时间。处理注册后维护案件（如提交五年、十年使用声明，续展等）一般需要30天左右，但目前则在60天左右。
Current Trademark Processing Waits
目前商标审查需时
As of April 2021 2021年4月 | Pendency Target (days) 审限目标（天） | Current Pendency (days) 目前审查时间（天） |
Pre-Examination Unit 预审部门 | ||
TEAS 商标电子申请系统 | 10 | 79 |
MADRID 马德里指定美国 | 10 | 1 |
Examination Support Unit (ESU) 审查支持部门 | ||
Amendments/Corrections 补正/修正 | 14 | 104 |
Intent to use 意向使用 | ||
Extension requests 延期请求 | 15 | 7 |
Statement of use 使用声明 | 15 | 11 |
Divisional requests 分割请求 | 15 | 16 |
Petitions Office 申诉办公室 | ||
Letters of protest 反对书 | 60 | 57 |
Post Registration 注册后 | ||
Affidavits of Use/Incontestability 使用宣誓/不可抗辩宣誓 | 30 | 78 |
Renewals 续展 | 33 | 69 |
Amendments/Corrections 补正/修正 | 30 | 25 |
Assignment 转让 | ||
ETAS 电子转让申请系统 | 2 | 4 |
Fax 传真 | 10 | 6 |
Paper 纸质申请 | 14 | 6 |
We trust this information sheds some light on our current challenges to keep up with the demand of registering your trademark. We’re taking numerous actions to improve our current wait times. We’ll be keeping this data up-to-date to reflect any fluctuations in our wait times.
我们相信，这些信息可以帮助我们了解当前面临的挑战，以适应您注册商标的需求。 我们正在采取多种措施来减少当前的（审查）等待时间。我们将时刻更新以上数据，以反映我们等待时间的任何波动。
参考网站：
https://www.uspto.gov/dashboard/trademarks/
https://www.uspto.gov/dashboard/ttab/
https://www.uspto.gov/dashboard/trademarks/application-timeline.html
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