(a) Applications will not be advanced out of turn for examination or for further action except as provided by this part, or upon order of the Director to expedite the business of the Office, or upon filing of a request under paragraph (b) or (e) of this section or upon filing a petition or request under paragraph (c) or (d) of this section with a showing which, in the opinion of the Director, will justify so advancing it.

(b) Applications wherein the inventions are deemed of peculiar importance to some branch of the public service and the head of some department of the Government requests immediate action for that reason, may be advanced for examination.

(c) A petition to make an application special may be filed without a fee if the basis for the petition is:

(1) The applicant's age or health; or

(2) That the invention will materially:

(i) Enhance the quality of the environment;

(ii) Contribute to the development or conservation of energy resources; or

(iii) Contribute to countering terrorism.

(d) A petition to make an application special on grounds other than those referred to in paragraph (c) of this section must be accompanied by the fee set forth in §1.17(h).

(e) A request for prioritized examination under this paragraph (e) must comply with the requirements of this paragraph (e) 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). An application for which prioritized examination has been requested may not contain or be amended to contain more than four independent claims, more than thirty total claims, or any multiple dependent claim. Prioritized examination under this paragraph (e) will not be accorded to international applications that have not entered the national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371, design applications, reissue applications, provisional applications, or reexamination proceedings. A request for prioritized examination must also comply with the requirements of paragraph (e)(1) or (2) of this section. No more than 12,000 requests for such prioritized examination will be accepted in any fiscal year.

(1) A request for prioritized examination may be filed with an original utility or plant nonprovisional application under 35 U.S.C. 111(a). The application must include a specification as prescribed by 35 U.S.C. 112 including at least one claim, a drawing when necessary, and the inventor's oath or declaration on filing, except that the filing of an inventor's oath or declaration may be postponed in accordance with §1.53(f)(3) if an application data sheet meeting the conditions specified in §1.53(f)(3)(i) is present upon filing. If the application is a utility application, it must be filed via the Office's electronic filing system and include the filing fee under §1.16(a), search fee under §1.16(k), and examination fee under §1.16(o) upon filing. If the application is a plant application, it must include the filing fee under §1.16(c), search fee under §1.16(m), and examination fee under §1.16(q) upon filing. The request for prioritized examination in compliance with this paragraph must be present upon filing of the application, except that the applicant may file an amendment to cancel any independent claims in excess of four, any total claims in excess of thirty, and any multiple dependent claim not later than one month from a first decision on the request for prioritized examination. This one-month time period is not extendable.

(2) A request for prioritized examination may be filed with or after a request for continued examination in compliance with §1.114. If the application is a utility application, the request must be filed via the Office's electronic filing system. The request must be filed before the mailing of the first Office action after the filing of the request for continued examination under §1.114. Only a single such request for prioritized examination under this paragraph may be granted in an application.

(36 U.S.C. 6; 15 U.S.C. 1113, 1123)

[24 FR 10332, Dec. 22, 1959, as amended at 47 FR 41276, Sept. 17, 1982; 54 FR 6903, Feb. 15, 1989; 60 FR 20226, Apr. 25, 1995; 62 FR 53191, Oct. 10, 1997; 65 FR 54671, Sept. 8, 2000; 69 FR 56542, Sept. 21, 2004; 76 FR 59054, Sept. 23, 2011; 76 FR 78569, Dec. 19, 2011; 79 FR 12390, Mar. 5, 2014; 84 FR 45910, Sept. 3, 2019]