Patent Intelligence · Process
Filing to grant
How long does USPTO examination actually take? Average and median prosecution timelines by technology domain — with inter-quartile ranges and a year-by-year trend from 2010 to present.
Overall avg
38.6 mo
Median
33.7 mo
Patents sampled
913
Fastest domain
Mechanical Engineering 34.6 mo avg
Slowest domain
E-Commerce 46.2 mo avg
By Technology Domain
Average months from filing to grant — sorted fastest to slowest. Bar = avg, tick = median. Shaded band = 25th–75th percentile range.
Mechanical Engineering
avg 34.6 mo
med 30.1 mo
n=278
Automotive
avg 35.9 mo
med 33.7 mo
n=78
Semiconductors
avg 36.7 mo
med 31.7 mo
n=147
Consumer Electronics
avg 37.3 mo
med 33.4 mo
n=519
AI & Machine Learning
avg 37.9 mo
med 36.7 mo
n=185
Telecommunications
avg 39.4 mo
med 33.0 mo
n=325
Gene Editing
avg 39.5 mo
med 34.9 mo
n=15
Clean Energy
avg 39.6 mo
med 35.0 mo
n=71
Software
avg 40.2 mo
med 35.9 mo
n=381
Pharmaceuticals
avg 43.1 mo
med 33.7 mo
n=113
Biotechnology
avg 43.5 mo
med 34.8 mo
n=154
E-Commerce
avg 46.2 mo
med 39.9 mo
n=94
Prosecution Time Trend (2010–present)
Overall average months from filing to grant, by grant year.
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Full Breakdown
| Domain | Avg (mo) | Median | P25 | P75 | Range | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical Engineering | 34.6 mo | 30.1 mo | 22.4 mo | 43.0 mo | 2.8 mo–203.6 mo | 278 |
| Automotive | 35.9 mo | 33.7 mo | 22.1 mo | 42.6 mo | 4.8 mo–106.1 mo | 78 |
| Semiconductors | 36.7 mo | 31.7 mo | 22.9 mo | 44.0 mo | 5.9 mo–199.3 mo | 147 |
| Consumer Electronics | 37.3 mo | 33.4 mo | 22.7 mo | 45.7 mo | 2.5 mo–203.6 mo | 519 |
| AI & Machine Learning | 37.9 mo | 36.7 mo | 24.5 mo | 50.1 mo | 2.5 mo–106.7 mo | 185 |
| Telecommunications | 39.4 mo | 33.0 mo | 22.9 mo | 49.0 mo | 2.5 mo–200.0 mo | 325 |
| Gene Editing | 39.5 mo | 34.9 mo | 17.5 mo | 55.8 mo | 6.0 mo–86.7 mo | 15 |
| Clean Energy | 39.6 mo | 35.0 mo | 23.3 mo | 44.6 mo | 2.8 mo–234.8 mo | 71 |
| Software | 40.2 mo | 35.9 mo | 24.6 mo | 50.3 mo | 2.5 mo–200.0 mo | 381 |
| Pharmaceuticals | 43.1 mo | 33.7 mo | 22.8 mo | 52.9 mo | 4.3 mo–152.4 mo | 113 |
| Biotechnology | 43.5 mo | 34.8 mo | 23.0 mo | 53.5 mo | 4.3 mo–234.8 mo | 154 |
| E-Commerce | 46.2 mo | 39.9 mo | 28.8 mo | 57.6 mo | 8.6 mo–179.3 mo | 94 |
Methodology
Prosecution time is computed as the number of calendar days between filing date and grant date, converted to months (30.44 days/month). Patents with a gap outside 60–7,300 days (~2 months – 20 years) are excluded as likely data errors. Continuations and divisionals are counted independently. Domain assignment is based on our AI-generated industry_tags enrichment field — a patent may count toward multiple domains. Sample requires n≥5 per domain. All data is from public USPTO records.