USPTO waives the petition fee for the Streamlined Claim Set pilot program
To reduce financial barriers to participation in the Streamlined Claim Set pilot program, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is sua sponte waiving the petition fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(h) for a petition to make special under the program. The fee waiver applies to any petition to make special under the program using form PTO/SB/472 filed on or after June 10, 2026.
Under the program, pending non-continuing utility applications presenting no more than one independent claim and 10 total claims may be advanced out of turn for a first Office action. Applicants may bring their applications into compliance with the claim requirements by filing a preliminary amendment.
The USPTO will continue to accept petitions to make special until either October 27, 2026, or the date each Technology Center that examines utility applications has been docketed at least approximately 200 pilot applications, whichever occurs first. There are currently open slots for pilot applications in all of the Technology Centers. The pilot program website is periodically updated to show the number of pilot applications accepted into each Technology Center.
Before filing a petition to make special under the program, an applicant should check the Federal Register Notice for the program to make sure all eligibility requirements are met. For example, only applications filed before October 27, 2025, are eligible for the program. As explained in the notice, an applicant should not file a petition to make special under the program in an application that is already docketed to a particular examiner. The USPTO will generally dismiss the petition in these circumstances.
For more information, see the Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program page and the Federal Register Notice.
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