Friday, March 29, 2024

PH widens ?Patent Prosecution Highway? with European Patent Office

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) has expanded its Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) network with the signing of the bilateral PPH Agreement with the European Patent Office (EPO) last Oct.5 in Geneva, Switzerland.

IPOPHL director-general Josephine R. Santiago (left) and EPO president Beno?t Battistelli (right) sign the Bilateral PPH Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) in Geneva, Switzerland
IPOPHL director-general Josephine R. Santiago (left) and EPO president Beno?t Battistelli (right) sign the Bilateral PPH Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) in Geneva, Switzerland

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by IPOPHL director general Josephine R. Santiago and EPO president Beno?t Battistelli.

The signing was witnessed by delegations of both offices, namely, deputy director-general Allan Gepty and Bureau of Patents assistant director Lolibeth Medrano for IPOPHL, and Raimund Lutz, Francois-Regis Hannart, Niclas Morey and Telmo Vilela for EPO.

PPH is a global work-sharing effort and is being participated by 41 IP Offices worldwide. The program provides a framework whereby patent applicants whose applications have been determined allowable by a patent office are entitled to request — through a simple procedure — an accelerated or preferential examination of the corresponding applications in another patent office based on the issued examination results.

Work products from one IP office can be used as reference by another IP office for substantive examination. Hence, applicants can benefit from faster prosecution of their applications and acquisition of higher quality patent rights.

It may be recalled that IPOPHL has existing PPH agreements with the Japan Patent Office (JPO), with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and with the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO).

With the signing of PPH with EPO, IPOPHL now has four of the IP5 members as PPH partners. Santiago said the signing of the bilateral PPH agreement with EPO is an important milestone as the EU countries remain among the top foreign patent filers in the Philippines.

Upon its implementation, applicants with corresponding patent applications in IPOPHL and EPO can file a request for preferential examination under the program in either offices following a prescribed procedure and with submission of relevant documents on the application.

The commencement date and other pertinent information for the implementation of the IPOPHL-EPO PPH Program will be announced next year.

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