My initial thoughts of the impact on the patent industry (by this I mean people drafting and prosecuting patents) was that it would not have a significant impact. It seems fairly easy for patent attorneys and agents and their staff to work at home. All you need is a computer at home and a phone.
Turns out I was quite wrong. To get a better understanding, I reviewed Patent Bots usage statistics. Here is a summary:
- through March 7: minimal, if any, decline from expected usage
- March 8-14: 23% decline from expected usage
- March 15-21: 27% decline from expected usage
Although we are a small company and haven't attempted a rigorous statistical analysis (e.g., accounting for school vacation weeks), the numbers here shows a large drop in activity in the patent industry.
There are some obvious reasons for the drop:
- the overhead of getting a home office set up,
- parents needing to provide additional care for kids who are out of school, and
- slow down in activity from clients for the above reasons or because of a slow down in their own businesses.
It remains to be seen whether this is a temporary decline and that patent activity gets mostly back to normal soon, or if this is an ongoing decline that will last as long as COVID-19 remains a danger.
Hoping that you are all healthy and not too impacted by all the disruptions. Stay safe!