What is the purpose / benefits of a track 1 USPTO examinination?

Question

Track one patent examination expedites the examination process to 12 months. The cost is high, even for a micro entity at $1K. What is the advantage of a faster exam process from a business standpoint? Are there any other benefits?

2017 Examinations

As of May 2017, the average total pendency of US utility non-provisional patent applications is roughly 33 months. This average length of a non-provisional application is measured from the filing date of the non-provisional to ultimate disposition of the application, e.g., grant or abandonment, including Requests for Continued Examination (RCE). Excluding RCE’s, the average pendency of a utility non-provisional patent application to final disposal is approximately 25.7 months.

What benefit is there to receiving a patent grant 12 months earlier than the norm?

Answer 1

The sooner you have a granted patent (if that is the outcome) the sooner you have the added credibility that it might give for inventors, employees and others. To be clear, the primary effect of track I is to cut out the queue time before an examiner picks it up. If your initial claims are not going to be patentable, you will find that out faster, which can also be helpful.