On October 8, 2025, the United States Patent and Trademark Office announced the Artificial Intelligence Search Automated Pilot, known as ASAP!, to test an internal artificial intelligence tool for pre-examination prior art searches. The initiative is part of the agency’s effort to improve examination quality, response times, and efficiency. John A. Squires, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, framed the move as the first in a series of planned artificial intelligence pilots aimed at helping examiners and applicants ensure patents are “born strong,” adding that quality starts at filing and that new tools are intended to reimagine workflows and address chokepoints that affect productivity and throughput.
Under the pilot, applicants will receive an initial communication that identifies a “top ten list” of potential prior art issues. The notice, called an Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Search Results Notice, is designed to give applicants an early look at prior art considerations before substantive examination. With this information, applicants can consider first action responses such as filing a preliminary amendment, marshaling evidence for affidavit practice and matters noticed by the USPTO, requesting deferral, or filing petitions, including express abandonment, to seek a refund of certain fees when examination is no longer desired.
The automated search will be conducted using an internal USPTO artificial intelligence system that derives contextual signals from the application’s Cooperative Patent Classification assignment and from the application’s specification, claims, and abstract. By anchoring searches in both classification and the application’s own disclosures, the pilot aims to surface focused prior art results that can streamline early-stage prosecution decisions.
The USPTO will use the pilot to evaluate outcomes associated with pre-examination searches, assess the scalability of generating the Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Search Results Notice, and collect data to inform next steps and companion pilots. The results are expected to guide how similar tools could be integrated into examination workflows to support quality and efficiency goals.
Participation in ASAP! requires applicants to file a specific petition and pay a petition fee. Additional details are available in the Federal Register notice referenced by the agency.
