Effective April 17, 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has suspended the expedited examination program for design applications.
Under this expedited examination procedure, design applications are examined with priority and undergo expedited processing through the entire course of prosecution in the USPTO. In fiscal year 2024, nearly 20% of design applications were applications undergoing expedited examinations. According to the USPTO, in recent years, requests for expedited examination of design applications have increased by 560%, and this increased workload negatively impacted the pendency of all design applications.
Notably, design applicants may still request expedited examinations in specific, limited situations. Applicants may still file a petition to make an application special if the inventor or any joint inventor is 65 years of age or older. In addition, an application may also be made special upon a petition by applicant accompanied by any evidence showing that the state of health of the inventor or joint inventor is such that they might not be available to assist in the prosecution of the application if it were to run its normal course, such as a doctor’s certificate or other medical certificate. No fee is required for such petitions.
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