Any non-reissue utility or design application filed under 35 USC §111(a) (nonprovisional application or, i.e., a utility application) on or after August 25, 2006 is eligible for the accelerated examination program.
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.
To apply for the accelerated examination program, an applicant must conduct and provide a statement that a preexamination search was conducted, pay the fee set forth in 37 CFR §1.17(h), and provide an accelerated examination support document that includes:
- an information disclosure statement (IDS) citing each reference deemed most closely related to the subject matter of each of the claims
- an identification of all the limitations in the claims that are disclosed by the reference specifying where the limitation is disclosed in the cited reference
- a detailed explanation of how each of the claims are patentable over the references cited with the particularity required by 37 CFR 1.111(b) and (c)
- a concise statement of the utility of the invention as defined in each of the independent claims, and
- a showing of where each limitation of the claims finds support under the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112 in the written description of the specification.
Petitions to make special based on applicant’s age or health are available to expedite examination of your patent application and are subject to different application criteria. Note that a petition to make special based on applicant’s health or age may be filed in the application prior to the first Office action.
If you have any questions about the accelerated patenting process or would like to have a patent attorney draft and file a patent application for your invention please contact us.