Patent and Trademark Office September 28, 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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 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.