PPH
Outline
The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is an examination cooperation program between two Offices that allows the applicant to request accelerated examination to the second Office (OLE: Office of Later Examination) following a simple procedure, if a corresponding application has been found allowable/patentable by the first Office (OEE: Office of Earlier Examination).
Benefits to applicants
Faster patent grant
The applicant can obtain patents faster around the world to build a global portfolio quickly.
Higher grant rate
PPH applications have been granted at higher rates than non-PPH applications.
Lower filing costs
A fewer number of negative office actions issued for PPH applications have resulted in lower filing costs.
The statistics showing these benefits are available.
Benefits to IP Offices
Reduced workload
The second Office (OLE) can reduce its search and examination workload by using the information collected in the search and examination by the first Office (OEE).
Improved examination quality
The second Office (OLE) can improve its examination quality by referring to the search results and examination methods of the first Office (OEE).
How to request PPH
- PPH requirements include the correspondence between claims found allowable/patentable by the first Office (OEE) and those of a PPH application.
- Offices may have different requirements and procedures. For details, see the PPH guidelines provided on the website of the relevant Office.
- The PPH, typically based on a bilateral agreement between two Offices, must be implemented between the first Office (OEE) and the second Office (OLE). Check the PPH implementation relationships on the page of "Network".
PPH policy
The Offices that attended the 7th Plurilateral PPH Working-Level Meeting held in Singapore in August 2014 agreed on the PPH policy (114KB) proposed by the JPO. Each Office participating in the PPH should endorse and realize the policy to their maximum extent in order to promote the transparency and effectiveness of the PPH.