PTO Announces New PPH with Taiwan Intellectual Property Office

Washington – The U.S. Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today announced the launch of a permanent Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program with the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO). The permanent PPH program, which started on September 1, 2012, will continue to permit each office to benefit from work previously done by the other office, which reduces the examination workload and improves patent quality.

“This new partnership is further evidence of the growing, global appeal of the PPH and the importance of work sharing to improving the international patent system,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO David Kappos.

USPTO as the designated representative of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), and the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO), as the designated representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the United States began a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot on September 1, 2011, allowing applicants greater opportunities to use the PPH and benefit from expedited examination and higher patent quality.

Under the Patent Prosecution Highway, an applicant receiving a ruling from one participating office that at least one claim in the application is patentable may request that the other participating office fast track the examination of corresponding claims in their application filed in the other office.  The PPH will allow applicants to obtain corresponding patents faster and more efficiently.