The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is a set of initiatives for providing accelerated
patent prosecution
Patent prosecution describes the interaction between applicants and their representatives, and a patent office with regard to a patent, or an application for a patent. Broadly, patent prosecution can be split into pre-grant prosecution, which i ...
procedures by sharing information between some patent offices. It also permits each participating patent office to benefit from the work previously done by the other patent office, with the goal of reducing examination workload and improving patent quality.Patent Prosecution Highway at the Trilateral Co-operation
An updated "PPH 2.0" system under the program name "
Mottainai
is a term of Japanese origin that has been used by environmentalists. The term in Japanese conveys a sense of regret over waste; the exclamation "" can translate as "What a waste!" Japanese environmentalists have used the term to encourage peo ...
" (a
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
word meaning "wasteful") began among several national patent offices in mid-2011.
Cooperations (examples)
A number of patent offices are participating to PPH schemes. The following are examples of cooperations:
* Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) -
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...
(USPTO): A one-year pilot program commenced on January 28, 2008. The trial period has been extended for a period of two years ending on January 28, 2011, " norder to adequately assess the feasibility of the PPH pilot program".
*
Danish Patent and Trademark Office The Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO) is the patent office of Denmark. As of 2013, its Director General was Jesper Kongstad. Sune Stampe Sørensen succeeded Jesper Kongstad in October 2017.
See also
* Nordic Patent Institute
The Nordi ...
European Patent Office
The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the organisation
(EPO) - USPTO: A one-year trial cooperation program ("PPH Pilot Programme") commenced on 29 September 2008, for a period of one year ending on 29 September 2009. It was then extended for an additional period of 12 months, effective as of 30 September 2009.
* EPO - JPO: Launch of a bilateral PPH pilot with effect on 29 January 2010.
*
IP Australia
IP Australia is an agency of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. IP Australia administers intellectual property rights and legislation relating to patents, trade marks, registered designs and plant breeder's rights in Australia. ...
(IPAU) - USPTO: A one-year pilot program under PPH 2.0 commenced on January 29, 2012, and was extended indefinitely in July 2012.
* JPO - USPTO: The pilot program started in July 2006. The trial period was originally scheduled to last for one year, but was extended until January 3, 2008. The program has been implemented on a full-time basis since January 4, 2008.
* JPO -
Korean Intellectual Property Office The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) is the patent office and intellectual property office of South Korea. In 2000, the name of the office was changed from "Korean Industrial Property Office" to "Korean Intellectual Property Office". It i ...
(KIPO): The pilot program started in April 2007.
* JPO -
UK-IPO
The Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom (often referred to as the UK IPO) is, since 2 April 2007, the operating name of The Patent Office. It is the official government body responsible for intellectual property rights in the UK ...
: A one-year pilot program commenced on July 1, 2007. Following the pilot program it was announced that the PPH program would be made permanent.
* JPO -
German Patent and Trade Mark Office
The German Patent and Trade Mark Office (german: Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt; abbreviation: DPMA) is the German national patent office, with headquarters in Munich, and offices in Berlin and Jena. In 2006 it employed 2556 people, of which ab ...
Taiwan Intellectual Property Office
The Intellectual Property Office (TIPO; ) is the patent, trademark, and copyright office of Taiwan (Republic of China). It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA). As of July 2011, TIPO had a staff of 734 perso ...
(TIPO) - USPTO: A pilot program was scheduled for September 1, 2011 - August 31, 2012.
* UK-IPO - USPTO: A one-year pilot program commenced on September 4, 2007. The USPTO has decided to extend the PPH pilot program until further notice.
*
Israel Patent Office The Israel Patent Office ( he, רשות הפטנטים, המדגמים וסימני המסחר) (''Reshut hapatentim''), affiliated with the Israeli Ministry of Justice, handles issues related to intellectual property rights in Israel, including p ...
(ILPO) - USPTO: A one-year pilot program commenced on July 1, 2011.
* IPO - JPO: A three-year pilot program commenced on November 21, 2019 between India and Japan.
* Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO): implements a PPH program in cooperation with the Japan Patent Office, European Patent Office, China National Intellectual Property Administration, Korean Intellectual Property Office, and the Finnish Patent and Registration Office.
Patent Cooperation Treaty
The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international patent law treaty, concluded in 1970. It provides a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect inventions in each of its contracting states. A patent application filed und ...
/Patent Prosecution Highway (PCT/PPH) pilot program was also started on 29 January 2010 for a planned period of two years. This pilot program enables to " ast-trackpatent examination procedures for PCT applications that have received a positive written opinion of either the International Searching Authority or the International Preliminary Examining Authority, or an international preliminary examination report from the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO) or the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).""Factors to be considered when deciding whether or not to file a demand for international preliminary examination" (Views of David Reed), Practical Advice, PCT Newsletter No. 04/2010 page 8ff: "'' nthe case of PCT applications that have received a positive written opinion of either the ISA or the IPEA, or an IPER from the European Patent Office, the Japan Patent Office or the United States Patent and Trademark Office, patent examination procedures in the national phase before those Offices can be fast-tracked under the Trilateral PCT-Patent Prosecution Highway (PCT-PPH).''"
IP5 patent prosecution highway (IP5-PPH)
On 6 January 2016, a patent prosecution highway program was launched between the five intellectual property offices
*
European Patent Office
The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the organisation
Korean Intellectual Property Office The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) is the patent office and intellectual property office of South Korea. In 2000, the name of the office was changed from "Korean Industrial Property Office" to "Korean Intellectual Property Office". It i ...
,
*
China National Intellectual Property Administration
The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA; ), also known as the Chinese Patent Office, is the patent office of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was founded in 1980 as the Patent Office of the People's Republic of Ch ...
of China, and
*
United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark registration authority for the United States. The USPTO's headquarters are in Alex ...
.
A decision was made in 2016 to extend the duration of the programme by three years. The
European Patent Office
The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the organisation
Official Journal of the European Patent Office
The ''Official Journal of the European Patent Office'' (''OJ EPO'') is a monthly trilingual publication of the European Patent Office (EPO). It contains "notices and information of a general character issued by the President of the European Patent ...
'', 2016/A106, retrieved on 9 February 2018. in its
official journal
A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establis ...
that the program is going to available from 6 January 2017 until 5 January 2020. Participation in the program before the European Patent Office requires that substantive examination of the European patent application has not started yet. The starting date of substantive examination of a European patent application is publicly available from the
European Patent Register The European Patent Register, also known as the Register of European Patents, is a public register kept by the European Patent Office (EPO). It contains legal information relating to published European patent applications and European patents grante ...
via file inspection.
See also
*
Patent application
A patent application is a request pending at a patent office for the grant of a patent for an invention described in the patent specification and a set of one or more claims stated in a formal document, including necessary official forms and re ...
*
Patent prosecution
Patent prosecution describes the interaction between applicants and their representatives, and a patent office with regard to a patent, or an application for a patent. Broadly, patent prosecution can be split into pre-grant prosecution, which i ...
*
Public participation in patent examination The involvement of the public in patent examination is used in some forms to help identifying relevant prior art and, more generally, to help assessing whether patent applications and inventions meet the requirements of patent law, such as novelty, ...
*
Trilateral Patent Offices
The Trilateral Patent Offices, or simply the Trilateral Offices, are the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In 1983, these patent offices set up a programme of c ...
World Intellectual Property Organization
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO; french: link=no, Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United Nations (UN). Pursuant to the 1967 Convention Establishi ...
Austrian Patent Office
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...