The concept of “compact prosecution” was introduced in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in the 1960s. Prior to its introduction, the level of examiner productivity and efficiency were not of paramount concern. Any number of examiner-issued office actions and applicant responses could be exchanged during the prosecution of patent applications.
At the time, the term of a U.S. patent was 17 years from the issue date. Time spent prosecuting an application before a patent examiner did not reduce the patent term as it does today. In addition, before compact prosecution, patent examiners received production credits for each USPTO action, so there was little incentive to conclude prosecution.