Nikon has filed 8190 patent applications at USPTO so far (excluding Design and PCT applications). Out of these 5828 have been granted leading to a grant rate of 74.21%.
The table below provides key stats of Nikon’s patent prosecution at the USPTO:
Even the abandonment/Rejection of Nikon is significantly higher than the average rate of GAUs of Nikon. Below is a comparison of the average grant rate of Nikon, its Art Units, and the USPTO.
Allowance Rate of top 10 GAUs of Nikon’s Interest
Three out of the top ten GAUs of Nikon have an allowance rate less than the average grant index of Nikon. Among the rest seven, some of the GAUs have an allowance rate significantly higher.
On the other hand, Canon’s prosecution stats at the USPTO has a completely different story. Cannon’s grant rate is 8.64% higher than Nikon’s and 3.1% higher than the average grant rate of its GAUs.
| GAU | Total Apps | Allowance Rate |
| 2101 | 875 | 69.76% |
| 2851 | 745 | 77.52% |
| 2882 | 703 | 63.01% |
| 2872 | 673 | 85.64% |
| 2873 | 381 | 90.55% |
| 2507 | 275 | 82.72% |
| 2622 | 275 | 67.52% |
| 2877 | 220 | 76.04% |
| 2878 | 186 | 84.48% |
| 2881 | 186 | 77.60% |