USPTO Announces Two New Pilot Programs to Expedite Prosecution

On October 8^th, the USPTO announced the Automated Search Pilot Program. This program will send an Automated Search Results Notice (ASRN) to the Applicant prior to examination so the Applicant can learn about potential prior art issues in the application. The automated search will be conducted using an artificial intelligence (AI) tool.  The USPTO began accepting petitions for this program on October 20^th and they will accept petitions for at least 1600 applications. For more information, see the Federal Register Notice here.

On October 27^th, the USPTO announced the Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program to evaluate how having a limited number of claims under examination impacts pendency and examination quality.  Under the pilot program, certain pending utility patent applications that have no more than one independent claim and no more than ten total claims may be eligible for expedited examination.  An applicant may comply with the claim requirements of the pilot program by filing a preliminary amendment before or with a petition to make special under the pilot program. For more information, see the Federal Register Notice here.