Expansion of KIPO-USPTO Patent Prosecution Highway Program

摘要

The Patent Prosecution Highway ("PPH") program is one of the means to expedite the examination process in a second country for a patent application which has been also filed and indicated allowable in a first-filed country. KIPO is currently implementing the PPH program with eight countries, namely Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Recently, KIPO announced that, starting from July 1, 2011, the KIPO-USPTO PPH program will be effectively "expanded" by way of allowing the examiners of each country to reference the examination results obtained during the Patent Cooperation Treaty international phase (see also "USPTO Announces PPH Pilots With Korean, Israeli, Nordic Agencies" [25 WIPR 25, 8/1/11]).