Expedited Patent Issuance

Starting May 13, 2025, the USPTO has begun accelerating the issuance of patents after the issue fee has been paid. Specifically, the duration between the Issue Notification and the Issue Date will be reduced to approximately two weeks instead of the current three-week time period. The USPTO has noted that it has been able to implement this improvement in view of its technology modernization efforts. More information on this update can be found at the USPTO’s website here.

While this change may seem small, it is important for Applicants and patent practitioners to consider this when filing continuation applications. To avoid any unexpected, expedited issuances, we recommend filing continuation application(s) before paying the issue fee.

USPTO Has Suspended Expedited Examination of Design Applications (“Rocket Docket Filings”)

As of April 17, 2025, the USPTO has suspended expedited examination of design applications. The USPTO cited the high number of recent-such requests and the increased workload as some of the reasons for removing this useful design filing mechanism. The USPTO’s Notice, with justification for this suspension, can be found here.

This is a significant change that Applicants and patent practitioners should consider when developing design filing strategies. While it is not clear if or when expedited design examination “for a fee” will return, petitions to make an application special due to an Applicant’s age or health may still be filed to quickly advance design patent applications. Further, continuing applications can be used to speed up the examination process. For example, one possible way to speed up an application is to file various new applications together with a continuation application directed to a similar article of manufacture. The Applicant or patent practitioner can then reach out to the Examiner and inform them of the other applications in the pipeline. While this strategy does not guarantee quick examination, it may help reduce pendency. Furthermore, Hague design filings can be leveraged to try to speed up the pendency of U.S. design applications, since Hague design applications are required to be examined within 12 months of filing.

The Quarles design rights legal team is nationally-recognized for its extensive knowledge and practice experience in this complex and important field. For questions about this article or on how to incorporate design-related legal rights into your intellectual property portfolio, please contact the author(s) of this post directly or send a message to the team via our Contact page. To subscribe to our mailing list and receive updates that highlight issues currently affecting the design rights legal field, click here.