By Andrew Levitt
Earlier this month, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that it would be waiving petition fees for the Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program for any petition filed on or after June 10, 2026. The petition fee waiver brings renewed attention to a USPTO program that has gotten relatively little fanfare, but offers eligible applicants an attractive opportunity to obtain expedited examination at no additional cost above regular filing fees. For non-discounted applicants, the program offers potential cost savings of $4,515 for prioritized examination.
As discussed below, the Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program only covers non-continuing and non-PCT applications with an actual filing date before October 27, 2025, and having a small claim set. However, the pilot may be attractive for eligible applicants in a well-fit situation.
What is the Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program and How Does it Work?
The Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program, which was published in the Federal Register last October, offers free expedited examination in exchange for adherence to lean claim set requirements. Specifically, for an original, non-continuing utility application filed under 35 U.S.C. § 111(a) with an actual filing date before October 27, 2025, Applicants may petition for free expedited examination if the application claim set contains:
- No more than one independent claim,
- Zero multiple-dependent claims, and
- No more than ten total claims.
Petitioners are permitted to bring their application’s claim set into eligibility with a preliminary amendment, including a preliminary amendment filed concurrent to a Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program petition. Continuation, continuation-in-part, divisional, and U.S. national stage PCT applications are not eligible. Nonprovisional applications claiming benefit of one or more U.S. provisional applications, and/or nonprovisional applications claiming priority to one or more earlier-filed foreign applications, however, are eligible for the pilot.
Petitions must be filed before October 27, 2026, and a first office action or restriction requirement must not have issued in the application at the time of filing the petition. Applications also must not include a nonpublication request (or such request must be rescinded).
The USPTO is accepting petitions for the pilot until 200 petitions have been granted, or until October 27, 2026, whichever comes first. As of the most recent available public data, the USPTO has received 162 petitions, of which they have granted 84, which means there are still about 116 slots available.
A Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program petition may be attractive for eligible applicants who would benefit from accelerated examination, and potential accelerated time-to-grant.
If you have any questions about the Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program, eligibility, or the petition process please do not hesitate to contact us.
