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The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently announced the Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program, designed to speed up examination. If accepted, an application can be advanced out of turn for its first Office action – meaning quicker feedback and potentially earlier allowance.
Key Participation Details
- Claim number limits: Patent applications filed under the pilot program are limited to a maximum of one independent claim and a maximum of 10 total claims.
- Maximum of three applications for each listed inventor: The pilot program is limited to applications in which an inventor or a joint inventor has been named as the inventor or a joint inventor on more than three other nonprovisional applications in which there is a petition to make "special" under this pilot program.
- Forms: Applicants must file a petition to make special using USPTO Form PTO/SB/472.
- Fees: The fee to participate is $150 unless an applicant is a small entity ($60) or a micro entity ($30).
Additional Details
- Each Technology Center within the USPTO will accept approximately 200 applications into the pilot program.
- Existing nonprovisional applications filed prior to Oct. 27 may qualify for the program provided the application complies with the criteria listed in the Key Participation Details section above. This may include filing a preliminary amendment to the maximum number of acceptable claims (see above).
- National-stage applications filed under 35 U.S.C. § 371 are not eligible for the pilot program.
- The pilot program is scheduled to end on Oct. 27, 2026.
The pilot program may benefit applicants that value speed (e.g., startups seeking funding, companies that want quick allowance for licensing/commercialization) as well as applicants that desire to refine patent prosecution strategy relatively early.
For full regulatory details, the Federal Register notice is referenced in this release.
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