Patent owners may soon be able to cut the time needed to have a patent reexamined by up to two-thirds if they can demonstrate a humanitarian use. The US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) is proposing a system that would offer fast-track reexamination vouchers as an incentive to stimulate “creation or licensing that addresses humanitarian needs.” Because patents under reexamination are often the most valuable commercially, a fast-track procedure would let patent owners “more readily and less expensively affirm the validity of their patents,” according to the Federal Register notice. The USPTO currently takes 19 to 20 months for such reexaminations, whereas the expedited review promises a six-month turnaround. The system is modeled on the US Food & Drug Administration's priority review vouchers given to entities that develop drugs to treat neglected tropical diseases. In this case, patent holders who receive the fast-track reexamination voucher could use it on any other patent they own or transfer it to the open market. Although the intent is worthy, there are too many unanswered questions, worries Thomas Kowalski of Vedder Price. “What will the USPTO do to ensure that those in the developing world as well as the poor in the developed world can gain access to the technology? Also, the voucher should be tied specifically to the technology with the humanitarian use instead of being independent and transferable.”