Initiatives

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will accept requests for prioritized examination of up to 500 qualifying patent applications without requiring payment of certain fees associated with prioritized examination. Under this pilot, the USPTO will advance out of turn certain patent

A pilot program that permits applicants to defer payment of the provisional application filing fee until the filing of a corresponding nonprovisional application in exchange for making technical subject matter disclosed in their provisional applications available to the public via a searchable collaboration database

Lists of future and past Partnership Meetings, implemented as a collaborative effort to give the IP community and the USPTO a forum to discuss items of mutual interest.

How can you participate? Sign up to join the Patent Center Beta Release and help us improve our patent filing system. This is a great opportunity to begin using the new Patent Center tool and provide the us with feedback for further improvements. Patent Center Status: Limited beta release is

USPTO releases two new AIA reports on Virtual Marking and the Satellite Offices.

Learn more about the established procedures under which the examination of a patent application may be accelerated.

The After Final Consideration Pilot 2.0 (AFCP 2.0) is part of the USPTO's on-going efforts towards compact prosecution and increased collaboration between examiners and stakeholders.

The USPTO's Complex Work Unit (CWU) Pilot Program helps users simplify online access to, and availability of, USPTO information and data for purposes of improved examination of applications, as well as publication of pre-grant publications and patent grants.

Under the Full First Action Interview Pilot Program, an applicant is entitled to a first action interview, upon request, prior to the first Office action on the merits. The examiner will conduct a prior art search and provide applicant with a condensed pre-interview communication citing relevant

Find out more about White House Executive Action No. 2, high-tech patent issues, and the the Glossary Pilot Program.

Effective May 13, 2015, the provisions in Title I of the Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 implement the 1999 Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs

Providing high-quality, efficient examination of patent application is paramount to our mission at USPTO.

USPTO awards competition recognizing innovators who use game-changing technology to meet global humanitarian challenges.

Effective December 18, 2013 The provisions in the Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 focus on harmonizing and streamlining many of the formal procedures for filing and processing a patent application.

Also known as the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program, this program provides a fast-track review for cancer immunotherapy-related patent applications without the need for applicant to pay a petition fee. Under this program, patent applications pertaining to cancer immunotherapy are advanced out of turn for examination, resulting in their accelerated review.

The Patents Ombudsman Program enhances the USPTO's ability to assist applicants or their representatives with issues that arise during patent application prosecution.

One initiative of the Software Partnership is the investigation and sharing of search strategies, and the improvement of tools and resources to evolve better techniques to identify prior art. Involvement of the scientific community in sharing best practices should help the USPTO identify the most relevant search resources and determine the best prior art for examination.

The Quick Path Information Disclosure Statement (QPIDS) program is part of the USPTO's on-going efforts towards compact prosecution and pendency reduction.

Track One and Prioritized Examination for RCEs

Learn more details about the mechanisms available to third parties who wish to submit patents.