New guidelines for the PPH between the UK and China
On 1 July 2014 the IPO and with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China will launch a PPH pilot program.
Under the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program an applicant who has had a set of claims found allowable by one office can request accelerated processing of a co-pending application at the other office.
We have published our guidelines for requesting acceleration under the UK – China PPH pilot program as of this date are now available. The for requesting acceleration under the pilot program at the State Intellectual Property Office are also available.
The PPH can significantly speed up the process of gaining a patent and help minimise the associated costs to the applicant while simultaneously helping to reduce patent backlogs by minimising the duplication of work carried out by Offices.
Further Information
For further information please contact Charles Jarman on +44(0)16 3381 4782 or email PPH@ipo.gov.uk.