by Dennis Crouch
The USPTO is shrinking the typical timeline from issuance to he USPTO has announced a significant improvement to their patent issuance process that will benefit inventors and patent holders across the nation. Beginning May 13, 2025, the time between Issue Notification and Issue Date will be reduced from approximately three weeks to just two weeks.  When everything is in order, the issue notification typically comes 1-2 weeks after paying the Issue Fee.
The USPTO formerly needed time for formatting the printing, but now that we have moved to electronic grants (eGrants), the issuance will come that much sooner. Good work USPTO.
In addition to quicker patent issuance, the timeline also reduces the lame duck period where the inventors and attorneys still have a duty to submit known prior art relevant to patentability, but where such submission could significantly delay issuance.
But . . .
