The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and Japan Patent Office (JPO) made a joint statement posting their goals to issue office actions in response to Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) requests, making it easier for applicants to plan a roadmap to issuance. Both patent offices’ goals are “within three (3) months” both (a) from PPH request to the first Office Action (OA) and (b) from an assignee’s response to an Office Action to the next Office Action.
The goals are still “average” ones, though, so users need to be prepared for delays. Hopefully, both patent offices will improve on their goals and enable assignees / applicants filing for patents in the USA and Japan to accelerate their business. By the way, the JPO’s examination speed as of 2020 is already one of the fastest in the world, so there might not be a large difference between regular and PPH examination going from the United States to Japan, but by the USPTO and JPO’s challenging themselves to greater speed, hopefully this accelerated option will improve.
What is PPH?
The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) system, now available among many nations in the world, enables applicants with a favorable outcome like Allowance in one patent office to share those results with another patent office (“office of later examination”; if the two offices are PPH partners) to get a faster result there. If the patent applications in the two countries are substantially the same, the second examining office will take into consideration what the other office has already searched and examined in order to speed up its own examination.
Japan has a widespread network of PPH agreements with over 40 states or patent examining bodies, so even if you have an Allowance for a patent in another country, it may be a worthwhile investment to consult with a Japanese patent attorney about PPH when seeking a corresponding patent in Japan.
* The information provided on this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice.
** For questions or consultation, please contact us for more information.
Contact: Taro Yaguchi
Sources
United States Patent Office. “Joint Statement by USPTO and JPO on efforts to further improve the Patent Prosecution Highway.” https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/news-updates/joint-statement-uspto-and-jpo-efforts-further-improve-patent-prosecution January 14, 2022. Accessed January 27, 2022.
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