Update on Examiner Interview Procedures at the USPTO
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Through a change in Examiners’ Performance Appraisal Plan and with immediate effect, the USPTO has caused in impact on the availability of Examiner Interviews to applicants. While not publicly disseminated, notification of the change is being conveyed by Examiners during the scheduling of interviews by way of a notification such as this: “[P]lease be advised that Interview Practice at the USPTO has changed effective October 1, 2025. Specifically, time authorized for interviews is limited to 1 interview per new application/RCE. Additional time for interviews may be granted, but such additional time now requires SPE approval.”
This shift in interview practice follows the October 1, 2024, announcement of the end of the After Final Consideration Pilot Program 2.0 (“AFCP”), which provided for an interview after final rejection as part of an effort to address the RCE backlog over the 10-year run of AFCP. The AFCP program demise was due to increasing costs to the USPTO to run the program coupled with a stated unwillingness by applicants to pay for the program through a new fee. Without AFCP, interviews after final rejection are generally limited in nature. MPEP 713.09 allows for an interview after final rejection in order to place the application in condition for allowance or to resolve issues prior to appeal and may be granted if the examiner is convinced that disposal or clarification for appeal may be accomplished with only nominal further consideration.
Between the restrictions provided by MPEP 713.09 and the new Performance Appraisal Plan, Applicants should proactively plan for an interview to be conducted after the first office action (or first action after an RCE) or else they can find themselves shut out from the effective and efficient path to allowance.
