The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) provides for the establishment of a program to allow the expedited examination of patent applications. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) refers to this program interchangeably as Prioritized Examination and Track I. However, expedited examination is not a new concept. In addition to Prioritized Examination, the USPTO provides another expedited examination process known as Accelerated Examination. Prioritized Examination does not replace Accelerated Examination, but rather offers applicants an additional option for expedited examination.

So which is the best option for having applications examined quickly? This article considers the differences between these two programs in order to address this question. A point-by¬point comparison is provided in Table 1.

Application Requirements

Perhaps the most significant difference between Accelerated Examination and Prioritized Examination are the additional filing requirements for an Accelerated Examination application. Notably, these requirements can be a source of prosecution history estoppel.