Expunging papers petitions

OPET – Office of Petitions

Generally available

Petition typeAverage days pending of decided petitionsMedian days pending of decided petitionsGrant rate percentageDeciding officeePetition option
306 - To expunge papers from an application or patent file (37 CFR 1.59)17216812%OPET 

*Infrequently filed petition

Displayed are the 12-month rolling average and median values. When the median value is significantly different from the average value, the median value will better represent when a particular category of a petition has been decided. This is because a small number of outliers can disproportionately impact the average value. The values exclude ePetitions.

The data is current as of October 1, 2024, and is updated quarterly.