The Trilateral Offices commence PCT-Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot

Further to the information that was published on the cover page of PCT Newsletter No. 12/2009 about the Trilateral PCT-Patent Prosecution Highway (PCT-PPH), which fast-tracks patent examination procedures for PCT applications that have received a positive written opinion of either the International Searching Authority or the International Preliminary Examining Authority, or an international preliminary examination report from the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO) or the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), it is hereby confirmed that the pilot, which is planned to run for two years, started on 29 January 2010.

For further information on how each Office is implementing the pilot, including information on forms and administrative procedures, see:

European Patent Office:

http://www.epo.org/patents/law/legal-texts/journal/informationEPO/archive/20100125b.html

Japan Patent Office:

http://www.jpo.go.jp/cgi/linke.cgi?url=/torikumi_e/t_torikumi_e/patent_highway_e.htm

United States Patent and Trademark Office:

http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/pph/pct_pph_epo.jsp

Further information on the PCT-PPH will be available shortly on the PCT Resources page at:

http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/filing/pct_pph.html