The table below shows the applications with the most requests for continued examination (RCEs). The winner is Qualcomm application 11/487,054 with an shocking 24 RCEs. What is equally shocking is the application had no final rejections! You can view the full transaction history here.
So how is it possible to have 24 RCEs and no final rejections? Its possible because of our wonderful duty of disclosure here in the U.S. (which, in case you missed the dripping sarcasm in that statement, I think is really stupid). All of the RCEs were filed with IDSs after the application had already been allowed.
I suppose it could have just been back luck that prior art kept surfacing for the 8 years between the initial allowance and the last IDS. But considering that Qualcomm occupies 66 of the 105 spots on the table, I am going to assume it is a purposeful strategy in order to keep the application pending and preserve the possibility of amending its claims and/or filing a continuation. And obviously Qualcomm is not alone, most of the applications on the list have very few final rejections relative to the number of RCEs. I didn’t go through all the file histories, but the ones I did go through were all very similar — a long string of RCEs + IDSs after the application was allowed. An overwhelming majority of the time the references were not cited in the next office action but simply a new notice of allowance was mailed.
There is one big reason that I don’t like this practice – it is essentially a tax paid to the USPTO. Filing 24 RCEs costs a boatload of money (even at small entities rates) and so this strategy is not available to entities without a lot of money. At the same time, its wasteful to make companies that can afford it go through these charades. So its bad for small inventors, and its bad for big inventors. The easy solution is to have a mechanism for suspending prosecution indefinitely that is open to any applicant for any application. But then the USPTO wouldn’t be raking in all those RCE fees.
Application Number | Number of RCEs | # of Final Rejections | Assignee | Customer Number | Patent Number |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
11487054 | 24 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9572179 |
9931469 | 21 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9130810 |
9933639 | 21 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9100457 |
10648767 | 21 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9544860 |
11021791 | 21 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9148256 |
10053765 | 20 | 3 | FLEXIWORLD TECHNOLOGIES, INC. | 23581 | 9836257 |
10740722 | 20 | 0 | NVIDIA CORPORATION | 45594 | 8788996 |
10942169 | 20 | 0 | NVIDIA CORPORATION | 45594 | 8732644 |
11141807 | 20 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED A DELAWARE CORPORATION | 23696 | 9350875 |
11178809 | 20 | 2 | InterDigital | 24374 | N/A |
11610060 | 20 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9578654 |
10420795 | 19 | 0 | GTJ VENTURES, LLC | N/A | N/A |
10420799 | 19 | 0 | GTJ VENTURES, LLC | N/A | N/A |
10871084 | 19 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8526963 |
10876340 | 19 | 1 | NVIDIA CORPORATION | 45594 | 8775997 |
11145357 | 19 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8630305 |
11261822 | 19 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED, A DELAWARE CORPORATION | 23696 | 9408220 |
11487051 | 19 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9125092 |
11937913 | 19 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8730069 |
10236657 | 18 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8812706 |
11250353 | 18 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8934329 |
11486895 | 18 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9137072 |
10826579 | 17 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8745251 |
10956609 | 17 | 1 | NVIDIA CORPORATION | 45594 | 8711156 |
11165882 | 17 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9107109 |
11186697 | 17 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED A DELAWARE CORPORATION | 23696 | 9246560 |
11463129 | 17 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8723705 |
11490228 | 17 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8526966 |
10725904 | 16 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9473269 |
10740779 | 16 | 2 | NVIDIA CORPORATION | 45594 | 8768642 |
11077764 | 16 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8669988 |
11180822 | 16 | 0 | GTJ VENTURES, LLC | N/A | N/A |
11370640 | 16 | 3 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED, A DELAWARE CORPORATION | 23696 | 9144060 |
11528141 | 16 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8879856 |
10720938 | 15 | 0 | VERIZON PATENT AND LICENSING INC. | 32127 | 8750482 |
10780824 | 15 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8489949 |
10783771 | 15 | 3 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8705588 |
11192769 | 15 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8442441 |
11193546 | 15 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED A DELAWARE CORPORATION | 23696 | 8406695 |
11365291 | 15 | 2 | SILICONIX TECHNOLOGY C. V. | 36538 | 9419092 |
11528307 | 15 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8879857 |
11610189 | 15 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9119220 |
12197993 | 15 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9136878 |
9810962 | 14 | 15 | SONY CORPORATION | 26263 | N/A |
9922581 | 14 | 0 | SIMPSON STRONG-TIE COMPANY, INC. | 498 | 8479470 |
10246052 | 14 | 1 | N/A | 26231 | 8333245 |
10390120 | 14 | 6 | NVIDIA CORPORATION | 45594 | 8749561 |
10581218 | 14 | 14 | KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS ELECTRONICS N.V. | 24738 | N/A |
10720920 | 14 | 1 | VERIZON PATENT AND LICENSING INC. | 32127 | 8761355 |
10740723 | 14 | 3 | NVIDIA CORPORATION | 45594 | 8775112 |
10781751 | 14 | 1 | JOAO CONTROLS, LLC | N/A | N/A |
10860116 | 14 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8705579 |
10922423 | 14 | 3 | QUALCOMM, INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8694869 |
10997838 | 14 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED, A DELAWARE CORPORATION | 23696 | 8687658 |
11083693 | 14 | 4 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED, A DELAWARE CORPORATION | 23696 | 9143305 |
11089643 | 14 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8645566 |
11251069 | 14 | 1 | FLARION TECHNOLOGIES, INC. | 23696 | 8514692 |
11260895 | 14 | 4 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED, A CORP. OF DELAWARE | 23696 | 9179319 |
11274360 | 14 | 2 | N/A | 26703 | 8035471 |
11285389 | 14 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8539119 |
11285399 | 14 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8692838 |
11412678 | 14 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8766995 |
11440479 | 14 | 1 | CARL ZEISS SMT GMBH | 26161 | 8270077 |
11581218 | 14 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 15055 | N/A |
11586307 | 14 | 2 | N/A | 44729 | 9792659 |
11608783 | 14 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | N/A |
11726674 | 14 | 0 | N/A | 63162 | 8557128 |
11929743 | 14 | 0 | N/A | 27530 | 9283415 |
12203846 | 14 | 1 | N/A | 36538 | 9484451 |
12715709 | 14 | 1 | N/A | 24374 | N/A |
12781192 | 14 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9236976 |
12859161 | 14 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9419749 |
10001477 | 13 | 4 | MONTEREY RESEARCH, LLC | 60909 | 8103496 |
10062156 | 13 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | N/A |
10248661 | 13 | 13 | N/A | 34956 | 9271825 |
10580698 | 13 | 0 | CARL ZEISS SMT GMBH | 26161 | 8279524 |
10720868 | 13 | 2 | VERIZON PATENT AND LICENSING INC. | 32127 | 8472606 |
10739979 | 13 | 13 | N/A | 53184 | N/A |
10745160 | 13 | 2 | NVIDIA CORPORATION | 45594 | 8390619 |
10942209 | 13 | 3 | NVIDIA CORPORATION | 45594 | 8723231 |
10967007 | 13 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8694652 |
11020457 | 13 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED, A CORP. OF DELAWARE | 23696 | 9137822 |
11132051 | 13 | 1 | NVIDIA CORPORATION | 45594 | 8743019 |
11141934 | 13 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9185538 |
11158584 | 13 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8942639 |
11261361 | 13 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9461859 |
11267638 | 13 | 2 | NVIDIA CORPORATION | 45594 | 8493396 |
11298353 | 13 | 14 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
11317083 | 13 | 11 | CYPRESS SEMICONDUCTOR CORPORATION | 60909 | 9299578 |
11401979 | 13 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED, A DELAWARE CORPORATION | 23696 | 9136974 |
11482430 | 13 | 2 | GTJ VENTURES, LLC | N/A | 9245270 |
11549604 | 13 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8989084 |
11553414 | 13 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9204428 |
11609627 | 13 | 3 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9462604 |
11738866 | 13 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9246633 |
11901484 | 13 | 0 | NVIDIA CORPORATION | N/A | 8502709 |
12121493 | 13 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8970272 |
12315124 | 13 | 0 | GTJ VENTURES, LLC | N/A | 9152943 |
12372954 | 13 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9240877 |
12418378 | 13 | 2 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9236885 |
12549560 | 13 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9240810 |
12778270 | 13 | 0 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 9338795 |
12925057 | 13 | 4 | GTJ VENTURES, LLC | N/A | 9911124 |
12944467 | 13 | 1 | QUALCOMM INCORPORATED | 23696 | 8909962 |
13288348 | 13 | 0 | N/A | 23373 | N/A |
Other observations from this list:
- Application 11/178,809 – After 20 RCEs, InterDigital let it go abandoned without paying the issue fee!
- GTJ Ventures is the successor in interest to Joao Controls, which has been described as a “notorious troll”
- Applications 9/810,962 (No Assignee) and 10/581,218 (Philips) appear to be the true RCE record holders with 14 RCEs filed in response to final rejections. The former eventually obtained a patent, whereas the latter did not.