Notice will be published if the IP5 PPH programme is terminated before 5 January 2023. The EPO may terminate the IP5 PPH programme early if the volume of participation exceeds a manageable level, or for any other reason.

The requirements laid forth below will apply to PPH requests filed with the EPO on or after 6 January 2020. With effect from 6 January 2020 the IP5 PPH programme is extended for a period of three years ending on 5 January 2023. While the Office of Later Examination (OLE) refers to the office before which participation in the PPH programme is being requested, i.e. JPO, KIPO, CNIPA, USPTO, also in its capacity as ISA and/or IPEA, the work product of which is used as a basis for the PPH request is referred to as Office of Earlier Examination (OEE), The procedures and requirements for filing a request with these offices are available from their respective websites. Where the EPO work product contains one or more claims that are determined to be patentable/allowable, the applicant may request participation in the PPH programme at one of the IP5 partner offices, i.e. Where this work product determines one or more claims to be patentable/allowable.

Or on the national work product established during the processing of a national application or a PCT application that has entered the national phase before one of the IP5 Offices, Under the IP5 PPH programme a PPH request can be basedĮither on the latest PCT work product (written opinion of the ISA (WO-ISA) or international preliminary examination report (IPER)) established by one of the IP5 Offices as ISA or IPEA, The PPH enables an applicant whose claims have been determined to be patentable/allowable to have a corresponding application filed with a PPH partner office processed in an accelerated manner while at the same time allowing the offices involved to exploit available work results. The present notice replaces that published in OJ EPO 2016, A106. It also permits each office to exploit the work previously done by the other office. The Patent Prosecution Highway leverages fast-track patent examination procedures already available at the offices to allow applicants to obtain corresponding patents faster and more efficiently. The European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), referred to as the IP5 Offices, have decided to extend the comprehensive Patent Prosecution Highway programme. Patent Prosecution Highway programme between the IP5 Offices based on PCT and national work products I.

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