[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 73 (Thursday, April 16, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20417-20418]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-07442]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No. PTO-P-2021-0019]
Termination of the Fast-Track for COVID-19-Related Appeals Pilot
Program
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of
Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is
terminating the Fast-Track for COVID-19-Related Appeals Pilot Program.
DATES: This notice serves as the formal termination of the Fast-Track
for COVID-19-Related Appeals Pilot Program. Petitions to participate in
the program filed after midnight ET on April 16, 2026, will not be
granted.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Megan Carlson, Patent Trial and Appeal
Board, by telephone at 571-272-9797, or by email at
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 2021, the USPTO published a notice
implementing the Fast-Track for COVID-19-Related Appeals Pilot Program.
See Fast-Track Pilot Program for Appeals Related to COVID-19, 86 FR
19877 (April 15, 2021) (2021 Notice). The 2021 Notice provided for the
advancement of applications related to COVID-19 out of turn in ex parte
appeals before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). An appellant
who filed an ex parte appeal of an application with claim(s) that
covered a product or process related to COVID-19 (such product or
process must be subject to an applicable U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) approval for COVID-19 use) and received a notice
that the appeal had been docketed could file a petition at no cost to
expedite the review of his or her appeal without paying a petition fee.
Pursuant to this notice, the USPTO is now formally terminating the
Fast-Track for COVID-19-Related Appeals Pilot Program. Terminating the
program allows the USPTO to dedicate resources to other priorities,
such as reducing pendency in ex parte appeals across all technology
areas. Notwithstanding, the program was not widely used, with only one
petition having been granted. This action is consistent with the 2021
Notice, in which the USPTO reserved the discretion to terminate the
program depending on factors such as workload and resources needed to
administer the program, feedback from the public, and the effectiveness
of the program. See 86 FR 19877 at 19878.
Any petition to participate in the Fast-Track for COVID-19-Related
Appeals Pilot Program filed after midnight ET on April 16, 2026, will
not be granted.
At that time, the USPTO will remove petition form PTO/SB/454,
titled ``Petition Fast-Track for COVID-19-Related Appeals Pilot
Program'' from the USPTO's website. Applicants should not submit stored
copies of form PTO/SB/454.
The USPTO will continue to process petitions for the Fast-Track for
COVID-19-Related Appeals Pilot Program filed by midnight ET on April
16, 2026, as set forth in the ``Conduct of Fast-Track Pilot Program for
Appeals Related to COVID-19'' section of the 2021 Notice. See 86 FR at
19878. Ex parte appeals accorded fast-track status due to the filing of
a grantable petition by midnight ET on April 16, 2026, will not lose
that status merely because the appeal is still pending after that
deadline. Any such appeal will retain fast-track status until the
PTAB's jurisdiction ends under 37 CFR 41.35(b).
Patent applicants interested in expediting an ex parte appeal
before the PTAB may instead request fast-track status under the Fast-
Track Appeals Pilot Program, which provides for the advancement of
applications out of turn in ex parte appeals before the PTAB. An
[[Page 20418]]
appellant who has filed an ex parte appeal and received a notice that
the appeal has been docketed may file a petition, accompanied by a
petition fee, to expedite the review of his or her appeal. The Fast-
Track Appeals Pilot Program sets a target of reaching a decision on the
ex parte appeal within six months from the date an appeal is entered
into that program.
John A. Squires,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2026-07442 Filed 4-15-26; 8:45 am]
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