USPTO Extends ASAP! AI Pre-Examination Search Pilot Deadline to June 1 Amid Low Participation

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced on April 16, 2026, that it is extending the petition filing deadline for its Artificial Intelligence Search Automated Pilot Program (ASAP!) from April 20 to June 1, 2026. The extension comes amid lower-than-expected participation, with the USPTO seeking to attract additional applicants to the program before finalizing its evaluation.

Launched in October 2025, the ASAP! program allows patent applicants to petition for the USPTO to provide automated AI-generated prior art search results before examination begins. Once a petition is granted, the Office issues an Automated Search Results Notice (ASRN) identifying up to ten potentially relevant prior art documents. The ASRN is explicitly non-binding — it does not constrain the examiner’s ultimate determination — but applicants may use it to file preliminary amendments, request deferred examination, or petition for abandonment. Eligible applications are limited to original, nonprovisional utility applications filed on or after October 20, 2025, through the new June 1, 2026 cutoff.

According to IPWatchdog, as of April 16 the USPTO had received only 169 petitions, of which 76 had been granted. The Office has set a total capacity of 3,200 granted applications across all technology centers — 400 per tech center — meaning current uptake stands at roughly 2.4 percent of available slots. Petition fees were waived in March 2026, removing a practical cost barrier to participation. Despite this, enrollment has remained well below targets, a situation the USPTO attributes in part to limited awareness of the program.

The ASAP! extension is part of a broader AI deployment agenda under USPTO Director John Squires. In March 2026, the Office also launched Class ACT (Trademark Classification Agentic Codification Tool), an AI assistant for trademark classification. Acting Trademark Commissioner Dan Vavonese commented that AI tools allow Office staff to “focus on applying their experienced judgment and reason to the substantive issues in examination, which will benefit our stakeholders.”

From a practice standpoint, ASAP! introduces an early-warning mechanism for potential prior art that practitioners may find useful in high-stakes prosecution strategies. By reviewing ASRN results before an examiner issues a first office action, applicants can make informed decisions about claim scope and prosecution strategy at the earliest possible stage. Whether the program ultimately delivers measurable improvements in examination efficiency will depend on participation rates and the quality of AI-generated results — questions the USPTO intends to address through data collected during the extended pilot window.

The revised deadline of June 1, 2026 applies to both filing and petition submission. Full program details and petition instructions are available on the USPTO ASAP! Pilot Program page.