Fast-Track your US Patent Applications

In late 2010 in Munich I bumped into Bob Stoll, then Commissioner for Patents at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).   He told me that he was in the process of creating a three-track patent examination process at the USPTO to favour patent applicants.  Bob was much in favour of making things easier and more predictable for patent applicants, and was particularly keen to have a fast-track patent grant process.

Following the passage of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act in September 2011, the USPTO began accepting requests for prioritized examination of patent applications through the Track I Prioritized Patent Examination Program. Track I allows inventors and businesses, for a fee, to have their patents processed to completion in 12 months. No examination support documents or other admissions are required.

According to the USPTO here, 1,694 Track I petitions have been submitted, with an approval rate of 98.9%.  So far, on average, the USPTO are getting the first action out in Track I cases just 66.4 days after filing of the request-petition, easily beating their target to get a first action out within an average of three months from the time the petition is granted.

More importantly perhaps, 23 allowances have already been mailed on Track I applications, the fastest of which was mailed just 37 days after the application was filed.  As for rejections, so far there have been three final rejections issued on Track I applications.  It may be worth noting that the first Track I application issued on Jan. 10, 2012. This application was filed on Sept. 30, 2011.

So, it is perhaps time to throw away our preconceptions of the USPTO being an unpredictable and often frustratingly slow organisation, at least for now.  Track I applications do seem to be providing a quick turnaround and perhaps the additional costs may be worth it.  If you are interested, please contact your usual Withers & Rogers advisor for an accurate assessment of the cost/benefits of using Track I.

John-Paul Rooney
Electronics, Computing and Physics Group