USPTO increases ‘fast-track’ examinations limit to 15,000
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced applicants can file for more prioritised examinations following an increase to the annual limit.
The ‘Track One’ policy allows patent filers to have their applications essentially fast-tracked—with applicants receiving a final disposition in around 12 months rather than 24.
The process also grants applications special status with fewer requirements than the current accelerated examination program and lacks the need to conduct a pre-examination search.
The prioritised examinations do however require a fee of $4,000.
The office announced an increase to the limit in a federal notice late last week.
Before being published, the limit on the number of prioritised examination requests was 12,000, which was raised back in September 2019 from 10,000.
The limit has now been bumped to 15,000, effective September 24, 2021.
The USPTO’s said its continued monitoring of the Track One process “confirmed that the program could be further expanded to permit more applications to undergo prioritised examination while maintaining the ability to timely examine all prioritised applications.”
COVID-19 pilot scheme
This rule change comes weeks after the Office altered the COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program—with it now accepting an unlimited number of applications until December 31, 2021.
The Pilot Program allows small and micro entities to obtain prioritized patent examinations so long as they contain claims to a product or process related to COVID-19.
Applicants using the process also avoid having to pay the fees for a prioritised examination.
The office said on September 3 that its decision to extend the program was to “ensure that applicants are not refused access.”
With applications set to further increase, the office revealed in May that it had granted its 11 millionth patent.
4C Medical Technologies obtained the milestone filing for a prosthetic heart valve invention.
Despite increasing numbers, however, the office stressed in July that applicants need to clearly distinguish between real and predicted results when drafting patents.
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