The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced that, as of July 10, 2025, it will discontinue accepting petitions under the Accelerated Examination (AE) program for utility patent applications. However, petitions under the AE Program will continue to be accepted for design patent applications.
The USPTO’s decision to discontinue the AE Program for utility patent applications is based on the waning popularity of the program, the availability and popularity of the USPTO’s alternative Track One Program for prioritized examination, the relatively high resources required to handle applications under the AE Program compared to under the Track One Program, and the USPTO’s effort to allocate more resources to older pending applications and to reduce application pendency times. According to the USPTO, fewer than 100 applicants have used the AE Program in each of the last ten years. In a statement, the USPTO said, “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.”
Because design patent applications do not have an alternative program for expedited examination, the USPTO will continue the AE Program for design patent applications.
The USPTO’s announcement also confirms that it will continue to accept petitions to make an application special based on age or health. However, the announcement states that 37 CFR 1.102(c) will be amended to clarify that it is the age or health of the inventor or a joint inventor—not that of the applicant—that is relevant.
Click here to read the USPTO’s final rule on “Discontinuation of the Accelerated Examination Program for Utility Applications.”
Clients and Applicants who wish to use the Accelerated Examination Program for a utility patent application are reminded that the deadline for filing their petition for accelerated examination is July 9, 2025.
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