Trilateral Offices to start PCT-PPH

13 November 2009

The Trilateral Offices reached agreement on November 13, 2009, to begin a pilot programme in the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) framework utilising PCT work products (international search reports, written opinions, and international preliminary examination reports).

Under the PPH, an applicant receiving a determination from an office of first filing that claims in an application are allowable may request that the corresponding application filed at a second office be advanced out of turn for examination as to those allowable claims. To date, the PPH programme, begun in 2006 and now the subject of bilateral agreements among a number of IP offices, has proved valuable in increasing efficiency.

Until now, the PPH programme has been limited to cross filings of national applications under the Paris Convention. This new agreement among the Trilateral Offices greatly expands the potential of the PPH program. By providing the re-use of positive results from PCT work products, the PPH will now be available to applicants using these offices.

The details of this new pilot programme, scheduled to begin on January 29, 2010, will be available shortly and posted at on the Trilateral website as well as at the respective websites of the Trilateral Offices.

Contact

Mr Eugen Stohr, Director International Legal Affairs
international_legal_affairs@epo.org

Further information

• Trilateral website
• International relations: Trilateral co-operation