Effective July 8, 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) expanded the availability of prioritized examination, increasing the limit on the number of requests from 15,000 to 20,000 in a fiscal year. The 20,000 limit applies to the sum of all granted requests for prioritized examination, including Track One requests for new applications and requests for prioritized examination in pending applications where a request for continued examination (RCE) has been filed. This change was adopted in a final rule[1] implemented immediately by the USPTO without prior notice or opportunity for comment, as an effort to continue to accommodate the number of applicants wishing to utilize this program. Prioritized examination is a tool used by many companies, including life sciences companies, to expedite issuance of key patents.
Prioritized examination is a procedure for expedited examination of a patent application for an additional fee, allowing patent applicants to receive a final disposition within 12 months of prioritized status being granted. Prioritized examination is available for original nonprovisional utility and plant patent applications filed under 35 U.S.C. § 111(a), known as the Track One program. Original applications include both first filings and continuing applications,[2] and thus, continuation, continuation-in-part, and divisional applications are eligible for prioritized examination. A request for prioritized examination may also be filed in a pending application with or after an RCE but before the mailing of the first Office action subsequent to the RCE. Among other requirements, patent applications must contain, or be amended to contain, no more than four independent claims, 30 total claims, and no multiple dependent claims to be eligible for prioritized examination.
This expansion in prioritized examination came after the recent termination and expiration of a number of pilot programs that permitted certain patent applications to be advanced out of turn for examination, including the discontinuation of the Accelerated Examination program for utility patent applications as of July 10, 2025.[3] The additional availability of prioritized examination is expected to have a positive or at least net neutral effect on overall pendency across all applications. Based on the Patents Dashboard provided by the USPTO, the current average total pendency of a patent application (excluding applications in which an RCE has been filed) is about 26.2 months, whereas the average pendency of a Track One application is about 4.5 months, from the Track One petition grant date to the date a Final Rejection, a Notice of Abandonment, or a Notice of Allowance is mailed.
Due to the benefit of expedited examination, the number of requests for prioritized examination has been increasing steadily over the years. In fiscal year 2024, the USPTO received more than 15,000 requests for prioritized examination. In fiscal year 2025 (October 1, 2024 through September 30, 2025), a total of 10,921 Track One applications had been received as of May, on track to exceed the prior 15,000 limit. For those wishing to obtain a patent quickly, the announcement by the USPTO is a welcome change as we approach the end of the fiscal year.
[1] Federal Register: 2025 Increase of the Annual Limit on Accepted Requests for Prioritized Examination.
[2] See MPEP 201.02.
[3] USPTO discontinuing Accelerated Examination program for utility applications | USPTO.
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