The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has said the Patent Prosecution Highway program, which expedites review of patent applications that have been allowed by a foreign patent office, will get less speedy, saying the benefits for participants "have become disproportionate" compared to other applicants.

The office said Tuesday it has implemented a new approach where Patent Prosecution Highway applications will be docketed for expedited examination based on how long applications in the same technology area that aren't part of the program have been pending.

The office said it is aiming for Patent Prosecution Highway applications, which account for around 2% of all filings, to be pending for "approximately half the time of non-PPH applications."

Currently, applications in the program move more quickly than that, receiving a first action from the office in an average of 7.5 months. That's compared to over 22 months for other applications, a number that has gone up from 15 months in 2020, the USPTO said.

"As a result, the expedited examination benefits of PPH applications have become disproportionate to non-PPH applications even in light of the fact that the volumes are low when compared with non-PPH applications," the office said. "The new docketing approach implemented at the USPTO addresses this imbalance by aligning these timelines more proportionately based on technology area."

Since they have already been reviewed by another country's patent office, Patent Prosecution Highway applications are often in a better condition to be examined than others, the office said. They will now be docketed for faster review once they reach "approximately half of the age of other recently docketed applications from the same technology," it said.

The office said that with the new policy, "we are providing greater fairness for applications already pending at the USPTO, while still allowing stakeholders to continue to take advantage of PPH's expedited examination." It added that as the average pendency times for patent applications overall improves, it will also improve for patents in the program.

"This change provides a more equitable examination for all applicants," the USPTO said. "The USPTO is dedicated to sustaining the long-term value of the PPH by ensuring that it continues to operate effectively within a balanced examination system that benefits all applicants."

The length of time it takes on average for the office to take a first action on an application that is not part of the program ranges from around 17 months to over 28 months, depending on the technology area, according to USPTO statistics.

The office has set a goal of reducing the average amount of time it takes for applicants to receive a first action to 12 months, while cutting its backlog of nearly 800,000 unexamined patent applications to under 600,000.