Federal Register #PTO-P-2026-0265

USPTO SPARK Pilot Program for Expedited Patent Examination and Appeals

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), under the Department of Commerce, is introducing the SPARK Pilot Program to encourage U.S. small and medium-sized businesses, universities, and non-profits to participate in standards development organizations (SDOs): - Government Buyer: - United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Department of Commerce - Program Overview: - SPARK Pilot Program incentivizes meaningful participation in voluntary consensus-based SDOs - Eligible applicants: U.S.-domiciled small and medium-sized businesses, universities, and non-profits - Applicants must certify small entity or micro entity status and discounted fee status - Requires at least 40 hours of active SDO participation - Services Requested: - Expedited examination of original (non-reissue) nonprovisional utility patent applications filed under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) - Expedited processing of ex parte appeals to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) for eligible applications - Special status granted to qualifying applications or appeals, advancing them out of turn - Unique Requirements: - Only original (non-reissue) nonprovisional utility applications (not PCT national stage entries) are eligible - Program limited to 200 granted petitions, with a maximum of 50 per quarter - Applicants must be U.S.-domiciled and have participated in SDOs - No OEMs or commercial vendors are involved, as this is a service-based government program - Place of Performance: - USPTO federal office; applicants must be based in the United States or its territories

Description

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is launching the SPARK Pilot Program to incentivize meaningful participation in standards development organizations (SDOs) by U.S. small and medium-sized businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Under this pilot, examination of certain patent applications and ex parte appeals to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) may be expedited if the U.S.-domiciled juristic applicant meaningfully participated in a voluntary consensus-based SDO and meets specified requirements. The expedited examination or appeal provides additional tangible value for the time and resources invested in standards development. Applications accepted into the pilot program will be advanced out of turn for examination or appeal until a first Office action is issued or before the PTAB respectively.

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