Accelerated Patent Applications, starting 8/25/2006

This entry is cut and pasted from the Federal Register, 6/26/2006.


[Federal Register: June 26, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 122)]
[Notices]

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (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 revising its procedures for applications made special under the accelerated examination program with the goal of completing examination within twelve months of the filing date of the application. The USPTO is similarly revising the procedures for other petitions to make special, except those based on applicant's health or age or the recently announced Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program between the USPTO and the Japan Patent Office.

DATES: Effective Date: The change in practice in this notice applies to petitions to make special filed on or after August 25, 2006.

For the full Federal Register notice, see the official notice.

Nancy