The USPTO recently announced a third extension of its First Action Interview Pilot Program. Under the FAI Pilot Program, patent applicants can request an interview with the Examiner before the first official action, in order to identify and resolve issues early in prosecution.
The FAI Pilot Program is now available for all patent applications filed through November 16, 2012. For more details about the FIA Pilot Program, check out this previous IP Spotlight post that describes the program.
UPDATE: In November 2012, the USPTO announced that it would continue the program beyond November 16, 2012 until further notice.
IP Spotlight 