USPTO announces End of AFCP 2.0

Patent

by Dennis Crouch

Termination of AFCP 2.0 Program: The USPTO has announced that the After Final Consideration Pilot (AFCP) 2.0 program will expire on December 14, 2024. This decision comes after the Office proposed implementing a new fee for AFCP 2.0 requests earlier this year, which received significant pushback.

Take-Home Points for Patent Practitioners:

  1. AFCP 2.0 has been popular with over 60,000 requests filed annually for the past 8 years.
  2. Last day for AFCP 2.0 requests: December 14, 2024
  3. Reason for termination: Program is costly and applicants do not provide any direct fee recovery.
  4. Proposed fee ($500 for large entities) was met with significant push-back.

As the USPTO bids farewell to this popular program, patent practitioners are focusing on reshuffling their after-final strategies.

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