One of the biggest complaints from novice inventors is that getting a patent takes too long. It takes an average of about 2 years to get a utility patent to issue (or until abandonment), while design patents may be obtained, on average, only two or three months faster.
Track One Prioritized Examination
The utility patent process can be greatly sped up by filing a petition for track one prioritized examination. The USPTO reports an average time of less than 12 months to get a utility patent using prioritized examination (or until abandonment) and Attorney Walter J. Tencza Jr. has obtained a number of utility patents in less than six months, and some much faster, using prioritized examination. For example, Attorney Tencza obtained US Utility Patent No. 10,706,857, on July 7, 2020, about 2 and ½ months from filing; US Utility Patent No. 10,624,436 on April 20, 2020, about 4 and ½ months from the filing; and US Utility Patent No. 10,549,826 less than 4 months from filing.
Prioritized examination has various requirements, including limitations on the number of claims, and it is very important that a registered patent attorney be involved with the process to ensure that the petition for track one prioritized examination is granted. Although the prioritized examination process has many advantages, it does not provide the application with special expedited status upon filing an appeal.
Petition Based on Age or Health
A petition based on Age or Health is another way to speed up the utility patent process; and can also be used for a design patent application. If an inventor is sixty-five years of age or older or has significant health issues that inventor may be able to speed up the patent process. Unlike prioritized examination, a petition based on age or health does not require additional USPO fees, does not have claim limitations, and an application expedited based on age or health will be sped up for purposes of appeal. Attorney Walter J. Tencza Jr. filed a patent appeal in an expedited case based on age, and received a favorable decision in a matter of months from the USPTO Patent Trial and Appeal Board, as opposed to the years that a non-expedited appeal may take.
FASTER DESIGN PATENTS
Rocket Docket Expedited Process
The track one prioritized examination process cannot be used for design patent applications. However, design patents can be sped up using a “Rocket Docket” process. That process requires that an applicant conduct a patent search before filing and provide the results of that search with a petition, and USPTO fees. It is very important that the search be conducted and reported in a proper manner for the petition to be successful.
Attorney Walter J. Tencza Jr. has filed a number of Rocket Docket petitions and obtained design patents in a matter of months as opposed to the nearly two years it may take in a normal case. For example, Attorney Tencza obtained US design patent D869,589 on December 10, 2019, less than two months after filing; US design patent D839,383 on January 29, 2019, about 4 months after filing; and US design patent D823,430 on July 17 2018, about 4 months after filing.
FASTER PATENT APPEALS
New Expedited Patent Appeals
As previously noted, a patent appeal will be expedited when a proper petition based on age or health has been granted. However, in addition, the USPTO has introduced a process for Expedited Patent Appeals which is somewhat similar to the Track One Prioritized Examination Process. The new appeal expediting process has various requirements, including the payment of USPTO fees and request for an expedited appeal. As with Prioritized examination, it is very important that a registered patent attorney be involved with the process to ensure that the request for expedited appeal is granted. Although this expedited appeals process is very new, Attorney Walter J. Tencza Jr. anticipates filing a request for expedited appeal in a number of patent applications, and anticipates that decisions will take months as opposed to years.
OTHER METHODS OF SPEEDING UP PATENT APPLICATIONS
There are various other methods of speeding up patent applications. Some of these may involve the type of technology applied for. However, most if not all, of these methods require extensive patent searches and/or other documentation, and USPTO fees, which may make these other methods cost prohibitive. However, Attorney Tencza has filed patent applications and obtained patents using so called “Accelerated Examination” methods, which are different from prioritized examination. However, arguably the “Track One Prioritized Examination” process, may have greatly eliminated the need for “Accelerated Examination” in many cases.
