PPH MOTTAINAI

Examination Policy Planning Office

The JPO has commenced the PPH MOTTAINAI program on pilot basis since 15 July 2011 in order to make the PPH program more user-friendly and available for patent applicants.

Under the PPH MOTTAINAI Pilot, an applicant can make PPH requests at the Office of Later Examination (OLE) by using the examination results of the Office of Earlier Examination (OEE), provided that the OEE and OLE have a PPH MOTTAINAI agreement.

The new cases where a applicant can make PPH requests under the PPH MOTTAINAI

The PPH programs to date, accepted only PPH requests based on the examination results of the Office of First Filing, or the patent office with which the corresponding application was filed first. This restriction on PPH requests has created a “wasteful” (mottainai in Japanese) situation where useful examination outcomes are not fully utilized at the international level. Thus the pilot program was named “PPH MOTTAINAI.”

The offices which agreed the PPH MOTTAINAI pilot program with the JPO are listed on the PPH program’s page.

Japanese Page

[Last updated 20 June 2012]