Farewell to Accelerated Examination: The USPTO Optimizes the Patent Application Path and Focuses on Track One

On June 10, 2025, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that it would terminate the accelerated examination (AE) program for invention patent applications starting July 10, 2025. This program has been implemented for nearly twenty years.

The AE program aims to enable applicants to obtain final authorization results within 12 months from the date of application. Applications entering the AE program must meet specific conditions through a "special application" request form and are mainly applicable to non-reissued invention patent applications or design applications.

AE Program Key Features and Requirements

• Applicable to non-reissued invention patent or design patent applications, effective from August 25, 2006.
• It does not apply to plant applications, reissue applications, PCT national phase entry applications, reexaminations, RCEs (unless AE status has been granted), or “special applications” based on age, health, or PPH program conditions.
• Must be submitted through EFS-web.
• An application may not contain more than three independent claims and 20 claims in total, and multiple dependent claims are not permitted.
• Applications must be complete and reviewable at the time of submission and must include a "Special Application" request and associated fees (or eligible environmental, energy, or anti-terrorism subject fee reductions).
• Applicants are required to conduct a comprehensive preliminary review search and submit a detailed description of the search strategy, database and search logic.
• The AESD must include a disclosure statement, a mapping of the claims to the references, an explanation of patentability, a statement of the utility of the independent claims, and a presentation of support for the claims in the specification pursuant to 35 USC 112(a).
• If the examiner requires, the applicant must participate in an interview.

The accelerated examination program was launched in 2006, providing applicants with a path to obtain patentability decisions in 12 months or less. The introduction of the program has undoubtedly accelerated processing speeds. However, since the USPTO introduced Track One, applications for the accelerated examination program have dropped significantly. The advantage of Track One is that applicants do not need to meet many of the complex requirements of the accelerated examination program, such as conducting pre-examination searches and providing examination support documents. In fact, the rate of rejections due to some special requirements of the accelerated examination program is as high as one-third. Therefore, from 2014-2024, only less than 100 applicants will take advantage of the accelerated examination program each year. In contrast, Track One has received nearly 10,000 applications in the first half of this fiscal year alone.

Therefore, the USPTO finally decided not to continue the accelerated examination program and only retain it for design patent applications.

In invention patent applications, applicants have other options. The Track One program is expected to increase to 20,000 by 2025. The Track One program issues the first review opinion about 3 months after submitting the request, and the final authorization decision is made within about 6 months. Another option for accelerated review is to apply for "special case handling", which is applicable to inventors or co-inventors who are over 65 years old or may not be able to participate in the application process normally due to health conditions.

The termination of the accelerated examination program by the USPTO reflects the trend of optimizing the patent application process, which improves overall efficiency by reducing unnecessary complexity and resource occupation. Track One has become the first choice for many applicants with its unparalleled speed and convenience.