[Patentpractice] USPTO discontinuing Accelerated Examination program for utility applications

[Dan Feigelson]

Shocked, I'm just shocked.  I mean, who would have expected a program
requiring applicants to do their own searches and expose themselves to
charges of inequitable conduct to be under utilized when applicants can pay
a (large) fee to accomplish the same thing but without the exposure?

On Mon, Jun 9, 2025 at 4:45 PM U.S. Patent and Trademark Office <
subscriptioncenter at subscriptions.uspto.gov> wrote:

> Beginning on July 10, the USPTO will no longer accept petitions under
> the Accelerated Examination program for utility patent applications.
>
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> .
> News Brief
> USPTO discontinuing Accelerated Examination program for utility
> applications
>
> Beginning on July 10, 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will
> no longer accept petitions under the *Accelerated Examination program*
> <https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fwww.uspto.gov%2Fpatents%2Finitiatives%2Faccelerated-examination%3Futm_campaign=subscriptioncenter%26utm_content=%26utm_medium=email%26utm_name=%26utm_source=govdelivery%26utm_term=/1/0100019754f09780-78a6d8b2-116b-446d-91d5-c83cbfb14cdc-000000/0Y9v_o9mC_jBkwLV19dHT4ROGmAdfRC2P8y31A83I5Y=408>
>  for utility patent applications. The Accelerated Examination program
> will remain in effect for design applications, which do not currently have
> an alternative expedited examination program.
>
> Discontinuing Accelerated Examination for utility applications frees up
> examining resources to be devoted to older, unexamined utility
> applications, thereby supporting our broader efforts to reduce pendency.
> Additionally, we’ve observed a steady decline in the number of requests for
> Accelerated Examination. In each of the fiscal years 2014 to 2024, fewer
> than 100 applicants have utilized Accelerated Examination.
>
> Please visit the Federal Register to read *the Final Rule in its entirety*
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> .
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