+1 (646) 480 0154

Exploring the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) at the EPO

The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programme is a set of agreements between patent offices, allowing applicants to fast-track patent examination of their applications from first filing offices to second filing offices based on patent protection. Under the PPH program, Applicants may request expedited examination by a prescribed procedure, including claims that have been determined to be patentable/allowable by the Office of Earlier Examination (OEE). The application is filed with the Office of Later Examination (OLE) and satisfies the requirements outlined in the PPH partner office.

How does PPH work?

The PPH process allows the OLE to utilize search and examination results from the OEE, thereby accelerating the patent prosecution timeline.
The EPO currently has PPH programmes with all IP5 Offices, i.e. JPO (Japan), KIPO (Republic of Korea), CNIPA (P.R. of China) and the USPTO (United States). Further, PPH partner offices are IPA (Australia), INPI (Brazil), CIPO (Canada), INAPI (Chile), SIC (Colombia), ILPO (Israel), MyIPO (Malaysia), IMPI (Mexico), IPONZ (New Zealand), INDECOPI (Peru), IPOPHL (the Philippines), IPOS (Singapore) and SAIP (Saudi Arabia). The PPH programmes with the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) and ROSPATENT (Russia) are currently suspended. (Data sourced from the EPO website)

Fee of PPH at the EPO

Participation in the PPH programme at the EPO is free of charge.

Advantages of the PPH

  • Accelerated examination: Claims in the European patent application must be filed corresponding to those in the earlier application.
  • Efficiency: The EPO examiner considers the search and examination results from the office of Earlier Examination, reducing duplication of work.
  • Cost saving: Expedited prosecution often results in reduced maintenance fees if the patent is granted earlier.

Requirements at the EPO

  • The European patent application must have the same priority date or filing date as the corresponding application.
  • The corresponding application must provide at least one claim that is deemed patentable/allowable.
  • All claims in the European patent application must be sufficient to correspond to the claims in the earlier application.
  • The applicant files a request for accelerated examination under the PPH program with the OLE if the application is unpublished or waiting for examination.
  • Applicant submits Form 1009: The request for participation in the programme.
  • A declaration of “claims corresponding” issued by the OEE
  • A copy of the patentable/allowable claims from the OEE

“Experienced, Skilled, Knowledgeable, Adept, Compassionate.”

Contact Us

Email

info@pctsuite.com

Phone

+1 (646) 480 0154

Follow Us

LinkedIn

PCT Suite

Designed and Developed By The Gold Technologies