ENGLISH
GERMANPatent Prosecution Highway (PPH)
The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is a program initiative between the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and various other non-U.S. patent offices designed to expedite the examination of certain patent applications. The PPH speeds up the examination of a patent application when a corresponding patent application filed in another PPH country has at least one allowed claim.
For example, a German inventor files a patent application in the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA). The DPMA examines the application and allows the application in whole or in part. The German inventor can file a corresponding U.S. patent application in the USPTO and have examination of the U.S. patent application expedited based on the search and examination results of the DPMA. Similarly, a U.S. inventor whose U.S. patent application is allowed in whole or in part can seek expedited examination of corresponding patent applications in other PPH countries.
The overall benefit of using the PPH is faster application examinations and lower costs. After a petition for a PPH request has been granted by the USPTO, examination of the application begins within two to three months. Normally, under a non-PPH scenario, examination of an application begins 25 months from the filing date. Also, PPH cases usually have fewer examiner actions during prosecution. Responding to few examination actions reduces costs for the inventor. Moreover, the overall allowance rate for PPH cases in the USPTO is 95 percent compared to non-PPH cases of 44 percent.
The USPTO has PPH agreements with the following Intellectual Property Offices:
- Australia
- Austria
- Canada
- Denmark
- European Patent Office
- Finland
- Germany
- Hungary
- Japan
- Korea
- Mexico
- Russia
- Singapore
- Spain
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
See also:
Office Action
Patent Application
Related links:
Useful Links – U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Filed under the Intellectual Property Law category.
