Earlier this week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced a pilot program to accelerate the examination of certain “green” technology patent applications.
Pending patent applications in green technologies will be eligible for special status and given expedited examination, which is expected to reduce the amount of time required to patent these technologies by an average of one year. Applications that are accorded special status are generally placed on the patent examiner’s special docket prior to the first office action, and have special status in any appeal to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) and also in the patent publication process.
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