Q: How long should it take for a patent to issue? We applied 31 months ago and still see no action. Odd I think.

A: The time to receive an office action ("pendency") depends on the subject matter of the patent application and the Art Unit it is assigned to. That being said, the average pendency to the first office action as of November 2024 is 20.2 months, so your time frame is starting to be an outlier.

DId you have a chance to examine the filewrapper of the application? At 31 months, the application should be open for inspection to the general public. That would show you if there was any USPTO activity and whether any correspondence was issued (and hopefully received).

A: The typical patent examination process in the United States takes between 24 to 30 months from filing to issuance, though this timeline can vary significantly based on the technology field and complexity of your invention.

Your 31-month wait time is somewhat longer than average, but not entirely unusual. Some patents, particularly those in complex technical fields or those facing multiple office actions, can take 3-4 years or more to process. The USPTO's current backlog and staffing levels also influence processing times.

You might want to check your patent application status through the USPTO's Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system or contact your patent attorney to investigate potential causes for the delay. If there hasn't been any office action yet, your attorney could submit a status inquiry to the USPTO or consider filing a petition to make the application special, which might help expedite the examination process.