The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced today that effective May 13, 2025, the time between an Issue Notification and issue date of a U.S. patent will be reduced to about one week.

Currently, it takes three weeks or more for the USPTO to issue a U.S. patent after sending an Issue Notification.

The USPTO indicated that this change to accelerate patent issuance should result in efficiencies in the patent issuance process. One benefit, according to the USPTO, is a reduced time frame for filing references in an Information Disclosure Statement (IDS), which should avoid delays that occur whenever prosecution is reopened. A second benefit, according to the USPTO, is earlier legal protection for inventions.

For applicants and practitioners, this action has important implications:

• A shorter window between Issue Notification and issue date means that any decisions of whether to file a continuation or divisional application should be made as early as possible and immediately upon receipt of the Issue Notification.
• It remains imperative to file the continuation or divisional application before or at the same time as paying the issue fee.
• Upon preparing to pay the issue fee, applicants and practitioners should review any related U.S. and foreign cases to determine whether any references must be submitted in an IDS.

Overall, while this USPTO process change streamlines patent issuance, it also demands greater diligence and quicker action from applicants and practitioners.

For more information, please contact Peter F. Corless at pcorless@foxrothschild.com, Steven M. Jensen at sjensen@foxrothschild.com or another member of Fox Rothschild's Patent Practice.

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