Department of Commerce
Patent and Trademark Office
- [Docket No.: PTO-P-2022-0031]
AGENCY:
United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce.
ACTION:
Notice.
SUMMARY:
On June 29, 2016, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) implemented the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program in support of the White House's National Cancer Moonshot initiative, which sought to accelerate cancer research. The program permits patent applications pertaining to cancer ( printed page 58773) immunotherapy to be advanced out of turn for examination. To date, over 880 petitions requesting participation in the pilot program have been filed, and over 650 patents have been granted under the program. In view of the continued interest in the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program, as well as the White House's reignition of the National Cancer Moonshot initiative, the USPTO is extending the program, with all parameters remaining the same, until January 31, 2023. The USPTO will also continue to evaluate whether to expand the scope of the pilot program and to what extent during this extension period.
DATES:
Pilot duration: The Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program will continue to run until January 31, 2023. Therefore, petitions to make special under the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program must be filed on or before January 31, 2023.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For questions regarding this pilot program in general, please contact Susy Tsang-Foster, Senior Legal Advisor, Office of Patent Legal Administration, Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy, at 571-272-7711 or susy.tsang-foster@uspto.gov. For questions related to a particular petition, please contact Gary B. Nickol, Supervisory Patent Examiner, at 571-272-0835 or gary.nickol@uspto.gov; or Brandon J. Fetterolf, Supervisory Patent Examiner, at 571-272-2919 or brandon.fetterolf@uspto.gov, both of Technology Center 1600.