Accelerated Examination of Patent Applications in the United States

In the United States, there are a number of ways to request expedited review to expedite the review process.

Accelerated Examination (AE)

• The AE route is applicable to all conventional invention patent applications, including continuation applications, part continuation applications, divisional applications and bypass applications. However, the number of independent claims in the application documents shall not exceed 3, the total number of claims shall not exceed 20, and it cannot contain multiple dependent claims; and the claims must meet the requirements of unity. The AE route is not applicable to international applications entering the national phase (except for RCE submissions), design applications, reissue applications, plant patent applications, RCE procedures and reexamination procedures, etc.
• When to file an AE: The applicant should file an AE accelerated examination request at the same time as filing a patent application.
• Official fee: US$140.
• AE applicants are required to conduct their own search on the application content and provide relevant supporting documents (Accelerated Examination Support Document, AESD).
• You will receive the first examination opinion within 3 months after the AE accelerated examination, and you are expected to receive the final examination decision within 12 months from the application date.
• AE acceleration does not allow submission of active modifications, and the response time for OA is only 2 months and cannot be extended.

Prioritized Examination Track One

• It does not apply to PCT applications in the PCT national phase.
• There shall be no more than 4 independent claims, the total number of claims shall not exceed 30, and no multiple claims shall be included.
• The applicant must submit a request for prioritized examination at the same time as submitting a patent application, and must pay the prioritized examination fee and the patent application publication fee at the same time.
• Official Fee: US$4000.00 for large entities and US$2000.00 for small entities.

Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)

• At least one claim in the examination decision of the prior application has a prospect of being granted, and the claims of the U.S. application involved in the PPH request must substantially correspond to the claims of the prior application.
• The applicant must file a PPH request before the substantive examination begins, because the United States does not require the prerequisite of "the patent application has been published". If the prior application obtains a notice of grant, the applicant can consider filing a PPH request quickly.
• No official fees.

Expedited Examination

• For designs only, applicants are required to complete the pre-search.

Petition to Make Special

• Make Special Based on Age/Health: If the applicant is 65 years old or older, or the applicant is in poor health, he or she may not be able to adhere to the normal patent examination cycle.
• Application time: The request must be made before the first OA is issued.
• No official fees.

First Action Interview Pilot Program

• Applicable to invention patent applications in all technical fields.
• The request should be made at least one day before the first office action notice appears in the PAIR query system.
• There shall be no more than 3 independent claims, the total number of claims shall not exceed 20, and it shall not contain multiple dependent claims.
• The applicant must consent to the meeting.