Given how busy the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is, it’s not surprising that there can be quite a delay between when you file for a patent and when an examiner actually inspects your claims. Typically, priority is determined by when patents were filed. Those in an examiner’s docket with the oldest effective filing dates go first, while those with the most recent go last.
However, there are a couple of key ways in which it is possible to expedite the wait and move your application to the front of the queue, as well as some special circumstances that some inventors may qualify for.
Prioritized Examination
An inventor may request prioritized examination for relatively simple applications that meet the following qualifications:
- No more than four independent claims.
- No more than 30 total claims.
- Does not contain any multiple dependent claims.
- You must pay a sizeable fee (at least $1040 and up to four times that amount).
If your patent application exceeds any of these limits, you have one month to file an amendment that cancels the offending claims, so that your applications falls within the requirements for prioritized examination.
In a sense, this is the equivalent of going through the ’10 Items or Less’ aisle of the supermarket. The USPTO recognizes that a few complex applications may significantly slow down the review of many more simple applications. This gives inventors with simpler patent applications to sidestep the traffic jam.
There are a number of other requirements for prioritized examination that aren’t noted here, and it should be noted that in order to benefit from prioritized examination, you must really know what you’re doing, and be extremely prompt in replying to the USPTO when they contact you for information or request interviews. If you’re unfamiliar with the patent process, it would be wise to consult with a patent lawyer to determine if this option is right for you.
Accelerated Examination
As with prioritized examination, accelerated examination is an option that is available for particularly simple patent applications that meet the following requirements:
- No more than 3 independent claims.
- No more than 20 total claims.
- No multiple dependent claims.
- You have to pay a small fee (no more than $140).
Additionally, you need to complete a search and file a declaration about the search logic that went into that search. You then need to do a patentability analysis about how each of the claims is patentable over the material that was searched. This part is what really drives your cost and where you need an attorney’s assistance.
The USPTO also requires that patent applications granted accelerated examination go through a streamlined appeals process, in which the inventor agrees to not make arguments about the patentability of individual dependent claims, but will instead allow them to all be grouped together.
As with prioritized examination, there are a number of other requirements, and you must really know what you’re doing, or retain the services of a patent attorney who can guide you through this process, otherwise you’ll lose any benefit you might otherwise have obtained from accelerated examination.
Special Cases Involving Age, Health, and Societal Betterment
There are a few special circumstances in which an inventor can file a “petition to make special” to grant their application special priority. By far the easiest to file and get approved are those based upon an applicant’s age or health. There is no fee for this.
If an applicant is at least 65 years old, they can submit evidence of their age and request expedited examination. Similarly, if an applicant has documentation from a medical professional showing that they likely won’t have the capacity to assist in the prosecution of an application if the patent process proceeds at its typical pace, they can request expedited processing based upon health. These petitions don’t require filing fees and are granted instantly if the necessary proof is included. In fact, our office will submit these petitions for our clients for free.
There are also other ways to get special status for your patent application, such as by showing that your invention will significantly improve the environment, help to discover or develop energy resources or their use, or counter terrorism. However, reviewing these petitions can take quite a while, and it can be an uphill battle to receive special status. For instance, we are not aware of any case in which a claim of environmental benefit has been granted.