[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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