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DOC/PTO

RIN: 0651-AC93

Publication ID: Spring 2015

Title: Changes to Permit Delayed Submission of Certain Requirements for Prioritized Examination
Abstract: The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act includes provisions for prioritized examination of patent applications (also referred to as Track I), which have been implemented by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) in previous rulemakings. This interim rule simplifies the Track I prioritized examination practice to reduce the number of requests for prioritized examination that must be dismissed. In order to enable rapid processing and examination of those applications, those rulemakings provided that an application having a request for Track I prioritized examination requires, upon filing of the application, an inventors oath or declaration and all required fees, and contain no more than four independent claims, thirty total claims, and no multiple dependent claims. Accordingly, any request for Track I prioritized examination not meeting all of the requirements on filing must be dismissed. The Office has found that many such dismissals are due to the application as filed not including a properly executed inventors oath or declaration, not including the excess claims fees or application size fee due, or improperly including a multiple dependent claim or claims in excess of the permitted number. The Office has determined that the time periods for meeting those requirements when filing a request for Track I prioritized examination could be expanded while maintaining the Offices ability to timely examine the patent application.
Agency: Department of Commerce(DOC)	Priority: Info./Admin./Other
RIN Status: Previously published in the Unified Agenda	Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Completed Actions
Major: No	Unfunded Mandates: No
CFR Citation: 37 CFR 1.1
Legal Authority: 35 U.S.C. 2(b)(2) 5 U.S.C. 553

Legal Deadline: None

Timetable:

Action	Date	FR Cite
Interim Rule	03/05/2014	79 FR 12386
Interim Rule Effective	03/05/2014
Final Rule	11/14/2014	79 FR 68124
Final Rule Effective	11/14/2014

Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: No	Government Levels Affected: None
Small Entities Affected: No	Federalism: No
Included in the Regulatory Plan: No
RIN Data Printed in the FR: No
Agency Contact: Raul Tamayo Department of Commerce Patent and Trademark Office 600 Dulany Street, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313 Phone:571 272-7728 Fax:571 273-7728 Email: raul.tamayo@uspto.gov