Whither the Global Patent Prosecution Highway?

摘要

The article explains, from a Japanese practice perspective, the procedure and benefits of the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), the joint accelerated examination program of the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) and United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) that was fully implemented in January 2008 after a successful two-year pilot project. It will be interesting to see how the US-Japan PPH can be extended globally as a unitary system in view of recent European developments which may complicate the goal of reducing the future workload of patent users.