The USPTO has been experiencing significant backlogs --- leading to delays in the examination process
McDermott 24
[Eileen McDermott, 6-5-24, Editor-in-Chief of IP Watchdog, “Organizations Tell USPTO Proposed 2025 Fees ‘Misuse’ Office’s Fee Setting Authority,” https://ipwatchdog.com/2024/06/05/organizations-tell-uspto-proposed-2025-fees-misuse-offices-fee-setting-authority/id=177505/, 7-9-24, EP]
PhRMA’s comments also noted that the USPTO currently has a growing examination backlog of nearly 800,000 applications as of February 2024, which contributes to continuing applications being filed 5-8 years after the earliest benefit date. The comments explained:
“This backlog and other factors often lead to USPTO’s delay in prosecution of the parental patent applications. These delays can prevent the applicant from being able to quickly assess the patentability of the subject matter and the need for a continuing application before 5 years after the original EBD date. This backlog has resulted in steadily increasing wait times to receive the first office action. The average first Office Action pendency for FY2023-2024 was 20.2 months, which has increased 33% from the same average pendency to first office action in December 2020 which was 15.4 months.”