USPTO and NIPO Establish PPH Pilot Program

By Donald Zuhn --

Last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced the establishment of a new Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program with the Norwegian Industrial Property Office (NIPO).  As with other PPH programs, the USPTO-NIPO PPH will permit an applicant having an application whose claims have been allowed in one of the offices to fast track the examination of an application in the other office, such that the latter application is examined out of turn.  In particular, an applicant receiving a ruling from either the USPTO or NIPO that at least one claim in an application is patentable may request that the other office fast track the examination of corresponding claims in the corresponding application in that office.

The USPTO-NIPO PPH pilot program, which began on November 1, 2011, is scheduled to expire on October 31, 2012, but may be extended for up to one year or terminated earlier depending on volume of activity and other factors.  USPTO requirements for participation in the USPTO-NIPO PPH pilot program can be found here, and NIPO requirements can be here.

Since implementing its first Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program with the Japan Patent Office (JPO) on July 3, 2006, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has established a total of twenty PPH programs with other patent offices.  Currently the USPTO has PPH programs (full or pilot) in place with the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO), the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), IP Australia (IP AU), the European Patent Office (EPO), the Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO), the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA), the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland (NBPR), the Hungarian Patent Office (HPO), the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks (ROSPATENT), the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO), the Austrian Patent Office (APO), the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI), the Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV), Nordic Patent Institute (NPI), and the Israel Patent Office (ILPO), the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO), and the Norwegian Industrial Property Office (NIPO).

Comments

[patent litigation]

Although filing internationally is certainly not cheap under any circumstances, at least the PPH process makes it somewhat less expensive for patent applicants ... and also streamlines the process. I'm glad the U.S. continues to expand this program.
http://www.generalpatent.com/blog/