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On March 19, 2013, expediting examination will become less expensive as the USPTO lowers fees from $4,800 to $4,000 for the Track 1 prioritized examination program.
On March 19, 2013, expediting examination will become less
expensive as the USPTO lowers fees from $4,800 to $4,000 for the
Track 1 prioritized examination program. For small entities, the
Track 1 prioritized examination fee drops from $2,400 to $2,000.
And for universities, the USPTO will start offering its new
micro-entity rate, with a Track 1 fee of only $1,000 per
application.
Under certain circumstances, Track 1 examination can be less
expensive overall than normal prosecution, even accounting for the
Track 1 examination fee. Our recent review of more than 350
expedited applications shows that, on average, allowed Track 1
cases receive only about 1.3 office actions, compared to an average
of 2.6 office actions for a regular patent application. For many
applicants, especially those entitled to small- and micro-entity
status, this lower number of office actions may more than offset
the cost of preparing and filing a request for Track 1 prioritized
examination. The USPTO's Accelerated Examination program and
the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) can also offer relatively few
office actions, on average, to allowance. In addition, the grant
rate for cases on the PPH is nearly 90 percent, which is nearly
double the grant rate for regular patent applications.
Although Track 1 examination, Accelerated Examination, and the
PPH all offer many benefits, each program carries different risks.
First, the grant rates for the petitions to enter these programs
vary from program to program. Second, the consequences of receiving
a dismissed or denied petition vary as well. For example, the USPTO
will refund the prioritized examination and place an application on
the regular examination track if it denies a Track 1 request. In
other cases, particularly for Accelerated Examination and PPH
requests, the USPTO may offer the applicant a chance to cure any
defects in the petition. In other circumstances, however, the
consequences of receiving a denied petition may be more severe.
Based on extensive experience for evaluating options for
obtaining patents faster and more economically depending on
specific client situations, Foley attorneys continue to publish
their findings and observation, including:
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
