Newsletter
IP5 Patent Prosecution Highway Took Effect as of 6 January 2014
The five Intellectual Property Offices, namely the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China (SIPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) agreed to launch a comprehensive IP5 Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program. Under the IP 5 PPH, a favorable examination result/opinion of an application issued by one of the five offices can be used as a basis a PPH request for a corresponding application examined by one of the other four offices if certain requirements are met. The favorable examination result/opinion can be either an examination result/opinion of a national filing or an international-stage examination result/opinion of a PCT filing. The IP 5 PPH is effective as of 6 January 2014 until 5 January 2017, which is extendable upon agreements of the IP5. The current bilateral PPHs between the SIPO and the JPO, and the KIPO and the USPTO are still effective and an applicant can choose to use the IP 5 PPH or the bilateral PPHs.