Data / Federal rules / 2026-12717
Conditions for Additional Information and Fee in Petitions Filed in Patent Applications and Patents Based on Unintentional Delay
The Patent and Trademark Office published this final rule in the Federal Register on June 24, 2026. It took effect on August 13, 2026.
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What the agency says
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is revising its practice of requiring additional information for delays in taking certain actions in patent applications and patents from requiring additional information for delays exceeding two years to requiring additional information for delays exceeding one year. This action is being taken to increase certainty and predictability concerning patent rights, and to encourage the timely filing of grantable petitions to revive applications, accept delayed maintenance fee payments, accept delayed priority or benefit claims, and excuse an applicant's failure to act within prescribed time limits in connection with international design applications. In addition, the USPTO is changing the conditions for when the corresponding petition fee is required.
Key facts
- Document number
- 2026-12717
- Type
- Final rule
- Action
- Final rule
- Agency
- Commerce Department; Patent and Trademark Office
- Published
- June 24, 2026
- Takes effect
- August 13, 2026
- Dates
- This rule is effective August 13, 2026, and will be applicable to any new petition filed after the effective date.
- Docket
- Docket No.: PTO-P-2025-0413
- Regulation ID (RIN)
- 0651-AD92
- Code of Federal Regulations
- 37 CFR 1
- Topics
- Administrative practice and procedure; Biologics; Courts; Freedom of information; Inventions and patents; Reporting and recordkeeping requirements; Small businesses
- Pages
- 5
Other documents from the Patent and Trademark Office
Everything from the Patent and Trademark Office · Rules on administrative practice and procedure · Rules on biologics · Rules on courts · Published in June 2026
Read from the Federal Register API, last updated 2026-10-23. The document on federalregister.gov is the official record; dates and dockets can change through later corrections. Free to reuse with credit to SpecStream under CC BY 4.0.