Patent applicants with pending nonprovisional utility applications have until October 27, 2026, to request accelerated examination under a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office pilot program that skips the standard queue and issues a first Office action out of turn. The Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program, administered by the USPTO, is set to close on that date or earlier if a Technology Center accepts approximately 200 pilot applications. Because the program also waived the petition fee for qualifying requests filed since June 10, 2026, the cost of entry is lower than in many other prioritized examination tracks, but the eligibility window is narrow.
Only original, non-continuing utility nonprovisional applications filed before October 27, 2025, can participate. Applications that claim priority to another nonprovisional or international application, including national stage applications, are excluded, so the pilot does not apply to new filings or to continuations and divisionals. The USPTO must not have issued a first Office action on the application, and the claims must be limited to one independent claim and ten total claims, with no multiple dependent claims. Applicants must submit Form PTO/SB/472 through Patent Center, and the specification, claims, and abstract must comply with DOCX format requirements. A preliminary amendment can be filed to bring an existing application within the claim limits before the petition is submitted.
The trade-off is narrower claim scope. Fewer claims and a single independent claim can mean less flexibility during prosecution and potentially reduced protection. "Fewer claims can mean narrower protection, so we walk each client through that before filing," said J. Baron Lesperance, founder of The Patent Baron, PLLC, an intellectual property firm with an office in Howell, Michigan. The firm is reviewing pending applications for inventors and small businesses that may still qualify before the window closes, particularly in Livingston County and across Michigan.
For applicants with older applications languishing in the examination queue, the pilot offers a rare chance to jump ahead without paying a petition fee, but it requires quick action and careful claim drafting. The program's 200-application cap per Technology Center means acceptance is not guaranteed, and the October 27 deadline is firm. A patent lawyer in Howell, MI can help determine whether an application meets the pilot's requirements, including the filing date, claim structure, and DOCX compliance, before the opportunity expires. With the petition fee waived, the main remaining cost is the legal work to prepare and file the request, making early evaluation essential for anyone hoping to accelerate prosecution.
