News

PCT Patent Prosecution Highway

Applicants for patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) now have the option to use the International Search Results and/or the International Preliminary Report on Patentability to their benefit in accelerating the prosecution of the subsequent European, Japanese and/or US patent application through the respective Patent Offices.

Under the so-called PCT Patent Prosecution Highway (PCT-PPH), an applicant of a PCT application who receives a determination from the European, Japanese or US Patent Office in their capacity as International Search and/or Examining Authority that certain or all claims in an application are allowable, may request that the resulting European, Japanese and/or US application derived out of the PCT applications, may be advanced, out of turn, for examination in respect of those allowable claims.

To qualify for the PCT-PPH therefore, the or at least one applicant must be eligible to use the European, Japanese or US Patent Office as International Search Authority and/or International Examining Authority, and so applicants will comprise nationals and residents of the US, Japan and/or one of the contracting states to the European Patent Convention. PCT applicants will also qualify if they have a real and effective commercial establishment in one or more of these territories.

This PCT-Patent Prosecution Highway will become available from 29th January 2010 and may come as a light relief to the continued increase in the Official Fees for PCT applications over recent months.