After the crash of T.W.A. Flight 800 in 1996 once again raised the specter of organized attacks on domestic land, anti-hijacking devices, barricades, and other public safety-oriented inventions were added to the list of inventions entitled to ask for expedited handling.
Called an "application to make special," the speedy handling procedure costs an extra $130 in addition to the $740 patent application. But it may be worth it, suggested one patent attorney familiar with the provision. "Getting an application made special cuts about a year out of the time," says Scott J. Fields, partner at the Philadelphia law firm of Obermayer, Rebmann, Maxwell, & Hippel. "If you come up with an invention that will quickly seal off a door in the presence of gas or weapons, or a pill that will turn contaminated water blue, you may see things move even faster."
Universities active in the patent chase, however, say ...
