[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 29, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Page 38714]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-13892]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No.: PTO-P-2021-0037]
Fourth Extension of the Modified COVID-19 Prioritized Examination
Pilot Program for Patent Applications
AGENCY: Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: To further support the acceleration of innovations in the
fight against COVID-19, the United States Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO or Office) is extending the modified COVID-19 Prioritized
Examination Pilot Program, which provides prioritized examination of
certain patent applications. Requests that are compliant with the pilot
program's requirements and are filed on or before December 31, 2022,
will be accepted. The USPTO will evaluate whether to terminate or
further extend the program during this extension period.
DATES: The COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program is extended
as of June 29, 2022, to run until December 31, 2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert A. Clarke, Director, Office of
Patent Legal Administration (571-272-7735, [email protected]).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On May 14, 2020, the USPTO published a
notice on the implementation of the COVID-19 Prioritized Examination
Pilot Program. See COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program, 85
FR 28932 (May 14, 2020) (COVID-19 Track One Notice). On September 3,
2021, the USPTO published a notice extending the program to December
31, 2021, and modifying it by removing the limit on the number of
patent applications that could receive prioritized examination. See
Modification of COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program, 86 FR
49522 (September 3, 2021). On December 30, 2021, the USPTO published a
notice extending the program to March 31, 2022. See Extension of the
Modified COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program, 86 FR 74406
(December 30, 2021) (Second Extension Notice). On March 25, 2022, the
USPTO published a notice extending the program to June 30, 2022. See
Third Extension of the Modified COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot
Program for Patent Applications, 87 FR 17073 (March 25, 2022) (Third
Extension Notice).
The COVID-19 Track One Notice indicated that an applicant may
request prioritized examination without payment of the prioritized
examination fee and associated processing fee if: (1) the patent
application's claim(s) covered a product or process related to COVID-
19, (2) the product or process was subject to an applicable Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) approval for COVID-19 use, and (3) the
applicant met other requirements noted in the COVID-19 Track One
Notice. As of May 16, 2022, 261 patents had issued from applications
granted prioritized status under the pilot program. The average total
pendency, from filing date or later submission of a request for
continued examination to issue date, for those applications was 280
days. The shortest pendency from filing date to issue date for those
applications was 75 days.
The Third Extension Notice indicated that the pilot program would
expire on June 30, 2022. In the current notice, the USPTO is further
extending the pilot program by setting the expiration date as December
31, 2022. The Office will evaluate whether to terminate or further
extend the program during this fourth extension period. If the USPTO
determines that an additional extension of the pilot program is
appropriate, the Agency will publish a subsequent notice to the public.
Unless the pilot program is further extended by a subsequent
notice, following the expiration of this extension, the pilot program
will be terminated, and patent applicants interested in expediting the
prosecution of their patent application may instead seek to use the
Prioritized Examination (Track One) Program. Patent applications
accorded prioritized examination under the pilot program will not lose
that status merely because the application is still pending after the
date the pilot program is terminated but will instead retain
prioritized examination status until that status is terminated for one
or more reasons, as described in the COVID-19 Track One Notice.
The Track One Program permits an applicant to have a patent
application advanced out of turn (accorded special status) for
examination under 37 CFR 1.102(e) if the applicant timely files a
request for prioritized (Track One) examination accompanied by the
appropriate fees and meets the other conditions of 37 CFR 1.102(e). See
Sec. 708.02(b)(2) of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (9th
ed., rev. 10.2019, June 2020). The current USPTO fee schedule is
available at www.uspto.gov/Fees.
The Track One Program does not have the restrictions of the COVID-
19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program regarding the types of
inventions for which special status may be sought, as the Track One
Program does not require a connection to any particular technology.
Moreover, under the Track One Program, an applicant can avoid delays
associated with the determination of whether a patent application
presents a claim that covers a product or process related to COVID-19
and whether the product or process is subject to an applicable FDA
approval for COVID-19 use.
Katherine K. Vidal,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2022-13892 Filed 6-28-22; 8:45 am]
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