What are the requirements for prioritized examination?
Prioritized examination, as outlined in 37 CFR 1.102(e) and MPEP 708.01, has specific requirements:
- Payment of prioritized examination fee, processing fee, and publication fee (if not already paid)
- Application must not contain or be amended to contain more than 4 independent claims, 30 total claims, or any multiple dependent claims
- For utility applications, must be filed via the USPTO’s electronic filing system
- Must include filing fee, search fee, and examination fee upon filing
- Request must be present upon filing or with a request for continued examination (RCE)
- Limited to 15,000 requests per fiscal year
The regulation states: A request for prioritized examination under this paragraph must comply with the requirements of this paragraph and be accompanied by the prioritized examination fee set forth in § 1.17(c), the processing fee set forth in § 1.17(i), and if not already paid, the publication fee set forth in § 1.18(d).
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