On February 4, 2021 the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
extended for two years the expansion of the Collaborative Search
Pilot Program (CSP), which began in 2015 and is now scheduled to
end October 31, 2022. The CSP expedites prosecution of
related applications at the USPTO and the Japanese Patent Office
(JPO) or Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) by allowing the
offices to conduct and share prior art searches before issuing a
first action. Earlier articles from Mintz explored the original CSP and the CSP's first expansion. The new
expanded CSP is still free and continues the USPTO's drive for
patent quality and speedy examination.
Upon acceptance into the CSP at the USPTO and at the JPO or
KIPO, each office conducts a prior art search, shares the search
results with each other, prepares an office action, shares the
office actions with each other, and then mails an office action to
the patent applicant. The USPTO includes prior art located by
the
