"Special" Patent Update: USPTO Launches Pilot Program for Streamlined Claim Sets

There is something new to make your patent applications “special.” The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) just launched the “Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program”[1] allowing eligible pending applications to be “made special” — that is, advanced out of turn — for the purposes of receiving a first office action. Over the next year, the USPTO will test improving patent application examination efficiency and quality by accelerating certain applications if they have limited patent claims.

Under the program, a pending application can receive special status and undergo an accelerated examination by filing a petition and associated fee per 37 CFR 1.17(h) if the application’s claims meet certain limitations, e.g., has 10 or fewer total claims with a single independent claim and no multiple dependent claims. The claim requirements can be met by a preliminary amendment filed before or with the petition and fee. The applicant can use this program if no inventor on the application is also named on three other applications being examined under this pilot program. This is intended to allow broad access to the program.

To gain the benefit of the program, applicants have been advised by the USPTO to fulfill the following requirements:

• The petition must be filed before any substantive actions are issued, including any restriction requirements.

• The applicant should file the petition before the application is docketed to an Examiner; otherwise, the USPTO will likely deny the petition.

• The application must be an original utility application filed under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) and prior to October 27, 2025. Continuing applications, applications for reissue, and those filed under 35 U.S.C. 371 are not eligible to participate.

The program is currently scheduled to last until October 27, 2026, or until each of the technology centers has about 200 applications with granted petitions. The program may be terminated if there is a wide disparity of petitions granted between the different technology centers. Other reasons for termination include workload, available resources to manage the program and public feedback. However, if a petition was filed prior to termination of the program, the petition is still to be considered.

While faster examination sounds sweet, there are a few sour notes. When a petition is not granted, the applicant will not receive a refund of the petition fee. Refunds will also not be given for any previously paid excess claims fees, despite filing the preliminary amendment prior to examination and reducing the number of claims to 10. Only one petition per application is allowed under the pilot program, and the applicant is not given an opportunity to correct any deficiencies if the petition is dismissed. It is unclear from the Notice if an amended petition will be accepted if filed prior to consideration of the original petition. Entry of the preliminary amendment is not contingent on the petition to make special being granted, the applicant must agree to publishing the application and the special status is given only up until a first office action. According to the Notice, for applications accepted into the program, amendments expanding the claims past 10 or to more than one independent claim may be considered as non-responsive, and the Examiner may refuse entry of those amendments — the Notice did not indicate if the Examiner can enter such amendments.

The reason given for the program is so the USPTO can evaluate how limited claims affect examination pendency and quality. The USPTO therefore intends to monitor prosecution of applications examined under the pilot program and is expected to include participant feedback in its evaluation. If successful, this could add a new, useful tool to the patent applicant’s toolkit.

[1] See, Federal Register Vol. 90, No. 205 Monday, October 27, 2025 (the Notice).

Source:www.jdsupra.com