By Christopher P. Singer --
According to an April 28, 2008 press release, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) will implement a one-year long pilot Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program starting in September 2008. Similar pilot programs with other countries have demonstrated the potential of the program for reducing application backlogs, eliminating redundant work, and leading to more efficient examination of applications. According to USPTO Director Jon Dudas, the addition of this pilot PPH with the EPO "significantly expands the PPH network in the global patent office community." Other participant countries in pilot PPH programs include Japan, Australia, Korea, the United Kingdom, and Canada (see links below for Patent Docs reports concerning these other pilot programs). The program between the U.S. and Japan has moved from a pilot program to a full-time basis program.
The PPH gives applicants the option of requesting a fast track examination of a corresponding EP or US application when they receive a ruling from one or the other of the EPO or the USPTO that at least one claim in their application is patentable. The prosecution in the second office is based on the patentable results from the first office, and thus, applicants can expect to obtain patents in both offices faster. The requirements for participation in this pilot program will be published by both the USPTO and the EPO on each Office's website prior to the program's implementation. We will provide more details concerning the pilot program as soon as they become available.
For additional information of this and other related topics, please see:
• "Patent Prosecution Highway Extended to IP Australia," April 2, 2008
• "Patent Prosecution Highway Network Expands to Canada & Korea," January 29, 2008
• "USPTO Announces Two Additional Partners in the Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program," January 17, 2008
• "USPTO and JPO to Implement Patent Prosecution Highway on Full-Time Basis," December 27, 2007
• "USPTO and UK IPO to Collaborate on Patent Prosecution Highway," September 14, 2007
• "Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program to Be Extended," June 28, 2007
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