Conditions for Additional Information and Fee in Petitions Filed in Patent Applications and Patents Based on Unintentional Delay

What it does

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.

The Patent and Trademark Office's summary, as published in the Federal Register.

What changed in the regulation

1 part of Title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations:

37 CFR 1

Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).

Compared with

The Patent and Trademark Office has published 4 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 5 in all of 2025.

Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.

Before this

No earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 0651-AD92 since Jan. 1, 2025.

What happens next and when

This rule is effective August 13, 2026, and will be applicable to any new petition filed after the effective date.

The agency's dates, word for word.

Check it yourself

• The document in the Federal Register
• Docket PTO-P-2025-0413 on Regulations.gov
• Title 37 on eCFR

The record as published

Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register