Under a program announced on June 26, an inventor can get a final decision from USPTO on a patent application within 12 months. The quid pro quo:

Applicants have a duty to disclose to the USPTO relevant prior art of which they are aware. However, applicants are not required to search for prior art. Under the USPTO’s accelerated examination procedure, applicants will be required to conduct a search of the prior art, to submit all prior art that is closest to their invention, and explain what the prior art teaches and how their invention is different.

In addition to providing and explaining any prior art references, applicants must explicitly state how their invention is useful and must show how the written description supports the claimed invention. The proposal also limits the number of claims allowed in each application and shortens the time periods for responding to most USPTO communications.

The Fed. Reg publication is here. Patently-O analyzes the new rules here and the most recent wrinkles here.