Accelerated Examination of Patent Applications

According to the USPTO's website, 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.

Nancy