USPTO Terminates COVID-19-Related Appeals Pilot Program

Content

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is terminating the Fast-Track for COVID-19-Related Appeals Pilot Program.

DATES:

This notice serves as the formal termination of the Fast-Track for COVID-19-Related Appeals Pilot Program. Petitions to participate
in the program filed after midnight ET on April 16, 2026, will not be granted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Megan Carlson, Patent Trial and Appeal Board, by telephone at 571-272-9797, or by email at fasttrackappeals@uspto.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

In 2021, the USPTO published a notice implementing the Fast-Track for COVID-19-Related Appeals Pilot Program. See Fast-Track Pilot Program for Appeals Related to COVID-19, 86 FR 19877 (April 15, 2021) (2021 Notice). The 2021 Notice provided for the advancement of applications related to COVID-19
out of turn in ex parte appeals before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). An appellant who filed an ex parte appeal of an application with claim(s) that covered a product or process related to COVID-19 (such product or process must
be subject to an applicable U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for COVID-19 use) and received a notice that
the appeal had been docketed could file a petition at no cost to expedite the review of his or her appeal without paying a
petition fee.

Pursuant to this notice, the USPTO is now formally terminating the Fast-Track for COVID-19-Related Appeals Pilot Program.
Terminating the program allows the USPTO to dedicate resources to other priorities, such as reducing pendency in ex parte appeals across all technology areas. Notwithstanding, the program was not widely used, with only one petition having been
granted. This action is consistent with the 2021 Notice, in which the USPTO reserved the discretion to terminate the program
depending on factors such as workload and resources needed to administer the program, feedback from the public, and the effectiveness
of the program. See 86 FR 19877 at 19878.

Any petition to participate in the Fast-Track for COVID-19-Related Appeals Pilot Program filed after midnight ET on April
16, 2026, will not be granted.

At that time, the USPTO will remove petition form PTO/SB/454, titled “Petition Fast-Track for COVID-19-Related Appeals Pilot
Program” from the USPTO's website. Applicants should not submit stored copies of form PTO/SB/454.

The USPTO will continue to process petitions for the Fast-Track for COVID-19-Related Appeals Pilot Program filed by midnight
ET on April 16, 2026, as set forth in the “Conduct of Fast-Track Pilot Program for Appeals Related to COVID-19” section of
the 2021 Notice. See 86 FR at 19878. Ex parte appeals accorded fast-track status due to the filing of a grantable petition by midnight ET on April 16, 2026, will not lose
that status merely because the appeal is still pending after that deadline. Any such appeal will retain fast-track status
until the PTAB's jurisdiction ends under 37 CFR 41.35(b).

Patent applicants interested in expediting an ex parte appeal before the PTAB may instead request fast-track status under the Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program, which provides for
the advancement of applications out of turn in ex parte appeals before the PTAB. An

appellant who has filed an ex parte appeal and received a notice that the appeal has been docketed may file a petition, accompanied by a petition fee, to expedite
the review of his or her appeal. The Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program sets a target of reaching a decision on the ex parte appeal within six months from the date an appeal is entered into that program.

John A. Squires, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. [FR Doc. 2026-07442 Filed 4-15-26; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510-16-P

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