The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act includes provisions for prioritized examination of patent applications, which have been implemented by the USPTO in previous rulemakings. This interim rule expands the availability of prioritized examination in two ways. First, applications filed at the USPTO by entering the national stage under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, i.e., "international applications," are now eligible for prioritized examination at the time of entry into the national stage under Track I. Previously, such applications were not directly eligible for prioritized examination under Track I at the time of national stage entry; applicants were required to file a second "continuation" application at the USPTO if they desired prioritized examination of their application. Second, the limit of applications that may be prioritized is being increased to 12,000 per year from 10,000.