Fast-Track Your Patent Application at the USPTO

There is a well-known backlog of patent applications at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Applicants wait an average of 18-24 months to receive the first correspondence from their patent examiner. Fortunately, the USPTO provides options to prioritize your application that can cut this time in half.

Expedited examination options and their requirements

Track One Prioritized Examination

Track one is a program designed to reach a final disposition (allowance, abandonment, or final rejection) for your application within 12 months (average time to grant is 4.5 months). [1]. This is the most straightforward option for accelerated patent examination and is available to all applicants.

Requirements:

1. Elligible applications

• The application must be a utility or plant nonprovisional application filed under 35 U.S.C. 111(a)

• Child applications can apply, but reissue applications are not eligible.

 2. Claim Limitations

• The application must contain:

  • No more than four independent claims

  • No more than 30 total claims

  • No multiple dependent claims

3. Filing Method

• For utility applications, the application must be filed electronically via the USPTO's EFS-Web system

4. Completeness

• The application must be complete and ready for examination at the time of filing. This includes:

  • A specification including claims

  • Any required drawings

  • An executed inventor’s oath or declaration or an application data sheet with inventor details

• All required documents and fees must be submitted on the same day as the application filing. Failure to meet this requirement will result in dismissal of the prioritized examination request.

 5. Fees

In addition to the standard non-provisional search and examination fees, applicants must pay the following fees:

• Prioritized examination fee: $4,000 ($2,000 for small entities)

• Processing fee: $130

• Publication fee: $300

 6. Filing Requirements

• All required documents and fees must be submitted on the same day as the application filing. Failure to meet this requirement will result in dismissal of the prioritized examination request

 7. Annual Cap

• The USPTO limits Track One requests to 15,000 granted requests per fiscal year, including requests for continued examination (RCEs)

Accelerated Examination 

Accelerated examination (AE) is a distinct program that, similar to Track One, aims to arrive at a disposition for the patent application within 12 months. The USPTO aims to issue a first Office action within 6-8 months of filing. [2]. AE has stricter filing requirements than the Track One program but is substantially cheaper and may result in a stronger patent application due to the rigorous pre-examination process.  Patent professionals must weigh the pros and cons of the available fast-track options before deciding. Design patents are eligible for AE.

Requirements:

1. Claim Limitations

• No more than three independent claims.

• No more than 20 total claims.

• No multiple dependent claims are permitted.

2. Pre-Examination Search

• Applicants must conduct a comprehensive pre-examination search of prior art.

• The search must cover U.S. patents, published U.S. applications, foreign patents and applications, and non-patent literature.

3. Accelerated Examination Support Document (AESD)

Applicants must submit an AESD that includes:

• A detailed explanation of how each claim is supported by the specification.

• A statement identifying where each claim limitation is disclosed in prior art references.

• A comparison of claimed features with prior art to demonstrate patentability.

4. Application Completeness

The application must be complete upon filing and include:

• A specification with claims and any required drawings.

• An executed inventor’s oath or declaration.

• All required fees.

5. Agreement to Examiner Interviews

Applicants must agree to participate in examiner interviews when requested.

6. Filing Method

Applications must be filed electronically via the USPTO's EFS-Web system.

7. Fees

Applicants must pay all standard filing fees along with an additional $130 fee for accelerated examination processing. The rigorous pre-examination and AESD requirements demand significant upfront effort and cost, potentially offsetting the lower USPTO fee.

Petition to make special

The USPTO has an additional fast-track option designed to increase access to IP rights. Applicants over 65 or those with health concerns may receive prioritized examination by filing a petition to make their application special. [3]. The petition to make special allows applicants to "cut in line," significantly reducing the waiting time for the first Office Action compared to standard examination timelines.

Requirements:

1. Petition must demonstrate that applicant's health might prevent them from assisting in normal prosecution, or

2. Evidence that applicant is 65 years of age or older

3. Must be submitted before substantive examination has begun

4. No fee required

5. Only available for non-provisional utility and plant patents

Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)

The PPH is an international program designed to expedite patent examination by leveraging favorable examination results from one participating patent office to accelerate prosecution of corresponding claims in another participating office. [4]. By sharing work between offices, the PPH reduces duplication of effort, lowers costs, and speeds up the process of obtaining patents.

Requirements:

1. Corresponding Application

• The U.S. application must correspond to an application filed in a PPH partner office.

• Both applications must share a common earliest priority date.

2. Patentable Claims

• At least one claim in the corresponding application must have been determined patentable by the Office of Earlier Examination (OEE).

3. Claim Correspondence

• All claims in the U.S. application must correspond sufficiently to the allowable claims in the foreign application. Claims may be narrower but cannot introduce new subject matter.

4. Examination Status

• A substantive examination must not have begun on the U.S. application before filing a PPH request.

5. Required Documents

• Copies of office actions from the partner office.

• Claims determined to be patentable by the partner office.

• A claim correspondence table showing how U.S. claims correspond to foreign claims.

Conclusion

The USPTO has several options to fast-track your patent application. Patent owners can gain strategic advantages by choosing the best option to expedite examination. Successful utilization of the fast-track programs requires strategic preparation, disciplined prosecution management, and careful consideration of which acceleration program best suits the specific technology and business context.

At Bright-Line IP, we've helped clients, from startups to multinational corporations, maximize the value of their innovations by acquiring targeted IP protection to address rapidly evolving markets.

Whether you're an international inventor looking to enter the US or a team looking to move fast and break things, we're here to guide you every step of the way.

Ready to expand your patent portfolio? Contact Bright-Line IP today to discuss developing a winning patent strategy.

Sources:

1. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, USPTO’s Prioritized Patent Examination Program, https://www.uspto.gov/patents/initiatives/usptos-prioritized-patent-examination-program (last visited Apr. 10, 2025).

2. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, Accelerated Examination Program, https://www.uspto.gov/patents/initiatives/accelerated-examinationb (last visited Apr. 10, 2025).

3. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, Make Special - Age or Health, https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/petitions/23-make-special-age-and-health (last visited Apr. 10, 2025).

4. U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) - Fast Track Examination, https://www.uspto.gov/patents/basics/international-protection/patent-prosecution-highway-pph-fast-track (last visited Apr. 10, 2025).