highway
8 November 2013Patents

Global Patent Prosecution Highway set to launch next year

A global pilot scheme has been announced which will see multiple patent offices collaborate to provide accelerated examination procedures.

The initiative, called the Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH), is set to launch in January next year and involves 13 patent offices worldwide including the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and several European and Asian offices.

The pilot scheme will allow applicants to request accelerated examination of a patent at any of the offices involved provided its claims have been previously deemed acceptable by any of the other offices.

"This is an exciting development and both the USPTO and Japanese Patent Office have been pushing very hard to achieve it,” said Gwilym Roberts, partner at Kilburn & Strode LLP, in London.

“It seems as though we are seeing the results of that [the hard work]. It’s still early days to assess the effectiveness, but with full buy-in at the examiner level and close attention to maintaining quality, it could have a significant and positive impact on the current examination backlogs.”

The GPPH is designed to simplify the existing system, which consists of several bilateral agreements, replacing it with a single arrangement so applicants can use the system across multiple jurisdictions.

“There are interesting omissions from the agreement however, most notably the European Patent Office, where I think there is less appetite for a PPH, and the Chinese Patent Office,” Roberts added.

The scheme is due to officially launch on January 6.

Michael Oblon, partner at Perkins Coie in Washington, DC said he thought the programme could be helpful for clients who need to have patents issued quickly, particularly in technologies concerning electronics, mechanical products, or pharmaceuticals.

However, Oblon added, “I do wonder how this can work for software patent applications, especially concerning Internet-related applications and business methods, where the law concerning patent eligibility seems to be different in the various jurisdictions.”

The offices involved are: the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), the USPTO, IP Australia, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, the Danish Patent and Trademark Office, the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland, the Japan Patent Office, the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the Nordic Patent Institute, the Norwegian Industrial Property Office, the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property, the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property, and the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office.

Further details will be announced by the UKIPO at the beginning of December, while a portal website, launched last week by the Japan Patent Office, says further information will available in due course.

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8 January 2014   A global partnership offering accelerated examination procedures between patent offices has launched.