Surge in USPTO Trademark Filings Impacts Processing Times
As of June 17, 2021, US trademark filings are up 63% over the prior year according to the United States Patent & Trademark Office. The USPTO received 92,608 trademark applications, an increase of 172% over December 2019.
This surge in trademark filings has had a meaningful impact on processing and review times at the USPTO. Current processing time estimates are available HERE. The USPTO is reporting the current processing time for issuing a first action on a new application at 5.2 months — which is up from the historical 3-4 months.
In practice, applicants may experience wait times that exceed even the 5.2 months estimated by the USPTO. We have been monitoring an application filed on January 1, 2021 that is still pending review with the USPTO as of the date of this post.
