I missed this when it first came out. The US Patent and Trademark Office reports it has issued its first patent under an accelerated procedure link here. The Office writes that the first patent under its accelerated examination program that began in August 2006, for a printer ink gauge, was filed with the USPTO on September 29, 2006, and was awarded to Brother International, Ltd. on March 13, 2007. Average review time for applications in the ink cartridge technology area is 25.4 months. This patent issued in 6 months, a time savings of 18 months for the patent holder.

To be eligible for accelerated examination, applicants are required to provide specific information, known as an examiner support document, so the USPTO can issue a final decision by the examiner within 12 months on whether their application for a patent will be granted.

Inventions that are new, useful, non-obvious, and accompanied by a written description disclosing how to make and use it, are presumed to be patentable. To reject an application, the USPTO must show that the invention is obvious or not new ("prior art").

Normally, applicants have to disclose to the USPTO relevant prior art of which they are aware but are not required to search for it. For accelerated examination, they must search for prior art, submit all prior art that is closest to their invention, and explain what the prior art teaches and how their invention is different.

They must state how their invention is useful and show how the written description supports the claimed invention. Only a limited number of claims is allowed in each application and the time for responding to most USPTO communications is shortened.

This and the peer review process (recently described here) presumably will improve the quality of patents issued. However, there is a good bit of skepticism among those of us at Against Monopoly who see the USPTO as overwhelmed and under the strong influence of existing patent holders and big business.

Keep an eye peeled.

"For accelerated examination, they must search for prior art, submit all prior art that is closest to their invention, and explain what the prior art teaches and how their invention is different."

Sounds like a great idea. We could also use this same scheme to speed up the criminal court process. The accused will be required on "Scout's non-binidn Honor" to look up any statutory or case law that might negatively affect them. In return, they'll get a speedy proesecutor-free trial and a presumption of innocence.