25 July 2011

Relaxation of Priority Requirements for the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)

Relaxation of Priority Requirements for the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)

A pilot program which relaxes the priority requirements for participation in the PPH has recently been announced by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO). Previously, applicants wishing to participate in the PPH were subject to restrictions on the order in which the relevant applications were filed and on the priority claims of the co-pending applications. The new ‘MOTTAINAI’ PPH pilot program lifts these restrictions.

The pilot program commenced on 15 July 2011 and is intended to run for an initial period of one year ending on 14 July 2012.

Background: The PPH represents a set of bilateral agreements between the UK IPO, Japan Patent Office, US Patent and Trademark Office and Korean Intellectual Property Office under which, if the claims of an application have been found to be acceptable by a first intellectual property office, accelerated examination of a corresponding application at a second office can be requested.

Useful links

UK IPO announcement of pilot program