Patent backlog cuts could raise examiner attrition and examination risks

The Government Accountability Office said the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reduced its unexamined patent application backlog to about 756,000 applications as of August 2026. The backlog had risen to about 838,000 applications in January 2025. Average applicant wait times for a final patentability decision increased by 11 percent during that period.

In September 2025, the agency announced a goal to reduce the backlog to under 599,000 applications without setting a time frame. GAO estimated that the USPTO was unlikely to reach that goal before 2031 unless examiner attrition fell. The backlog was last at that level in 2020.

GAO said the USPTO required examiners to review more applications, decreased examiner training and expanded the use of AI patent search tools. Stakeholders told GAO that requiring more work and eliminating training time posed risks to examination quality. They also said the AI tools did not reliably return useful patent search results.

Examiner attrition increased from 2.9 percent in fiscal year 2020 to 7.6 percent in fiscal year 2025. The USPTO was seeking to hire more examiners, but GAO said continued high attrition would affect its ability to reduce the backlog. As of August 2026, the 12-month examiner attrition rate was 7.6 percent.

GAO said the USPTO paused a survey that provided stakeholder views on agency responsiveness and overall examination quality. Assessing and addressing retention and examination quality risks could help the agency balance its backlog reduction efforts. GAO also sought information from the agency, which did not provide the requested information.

GAO analyzed USPTO patent application and examiner data and federal workforce data on recent examiner attrition. It also interviewed the patent examiners’ union, former USPTO officials, patent attorneys, trade associations and researchers. The report examined the agency’s backlog goals and whether its efforts were sustainable.