Accelerated Examination

The USPTO has established procedures under which the examination of a patent application may be accelerated. Under one of these procedures, the USPTO will advance an application out of turn for examination if the applicant files a grantable petition to make special under the accelerated examination program. The USPTO is similarly revising the procedures for other petitions to make special, except those based on applicant's health or age or the PPH pilot program. Other petitions to make special (i.e., based on: manufacture, infringement, environmental quality, energy, recombinant DNA, superconductivity materials, HIV/AIDS and cancer, countering terrorism, and biotechnology applications filed by small entities MPEP § 708.02 ) will be processed using the revised procedure for accelerated examination. Thus, petitions to make special, except those based on applicant's health, age, or the PPH pilot program , will be required to comply with the requirements for petitions to make special under the accelerated examination program as set forth in this notice.

The effective date for this change in practice is : 25 August 2006 .

 

Statistics

Decisions on Petitions to Make Special (May 29, 2015)

Fiscal Year of DecisionGrantedDismissedDeniedUndecided
201532262873
201410653830
2013150971120
20122571611290
20116903542400
20104523122750
200911306643580
20087018164120
20072193633410
20060520

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Decision Timelines on Petitions to Make Special (May 29, 2015)

Fiscal Year of DecisionDecisionsPendency (Days) - Mailroom to Decision
20158682.5
201424393.5
201336369.5
201255466.3
2011129764.3
2010105158.3
2009217893.9
2008196357.4
200794648.4
2006721.9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2B43 First Action Pendency from Filing and PTMS Decision (May 29, 2015)

Fiscal Year of First ActionEligible 2B43 First ActionsPendency (Months)- Filing to First ActionPendency (months) - Petition Decision to First Action
2015425.772.42
20141014.591.58
20131494.881.48
20122984.701.60
20116784.651.90
20104574.611.88
200912416.901.56
20085384.831.61
20071664.241.43
2006000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2B43 Pendency from Filing and PTMS Decision (May 29, 2015)

Fiscal Year of Issue/Aband.Eligible 2B43 Issues/Aband.Pendency (months)- Filing to Issues/Aband.Pendency (months)- Petition Decision to Issues/Aband.
20154812.589.26
201412614.6811.39
201314612.729.35
20124459.906.66
20115938.625.99
201082511.426.79
2009109710.906.25
20083019.046.07
2007456.874.41
2006000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comparison Chart of Domestic Acceleration Initiatives [PDF]

 

For more information on international worksharing programs and proposals, see the worksharing Web page: http://www.uspto.gov/ip-policy/patent-policy/patent-worksharing

Accelerated Examination Statistics [PDF] [data updated April 9, 2012]

Resources

Frequently Asked Questions [PDF] [updated March 28, 2018]

Guidelines

Samples

Tips to Consider When Drafting an AE Submission

Powerpoint Presentations

Federal Register Notices

File On-Line via Patent Center

Contacts

Interim filing procedure for sequence listings:

On October 14, 2006 the USPTO deployed the newest release of EFS-Web. EFS-Web is now capable of handling sequence listings and other large text files. Therefore, the interim procedures for filing such large text files are no longer available. Applicants must file the entire application through the new improved EFS-Web interface.

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