The Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the State Intellectual Property Office of the P. R. China (SIPO) will formally implement the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program on 1 November 2011, according to the Joint Statement of Patent Examination Cooperation between the SIPO and JPO. The PPH pilot program will start on November 1, 2011 and end October 31, 2012 for a duration of one year..
Under the PPH programs, an accelerated examination can be requested where the following circumstances can be met: at least one claim is decided to be patentable by office of first filing (hereinafter OFF), the claims in the first filing match those in the second filing, the work result of OFF are available to the office of second filing (OSF). Then the applicant of first filing can apply for accelerated examination in the OSF on the basis of work results of OFF. More requirements and procedures in detail can be learnt link to the SIPO’s PPH page: http://www.sipo.gov.cn/ztzl/ywzt/pph/zn/201105/t20110525_605293.html
In recent years, the growth of patent filings from Japan to China has maintained a steady growth and Japan is among the top ranking countries for filing in China. It should also be noted that China continued its growth in foreign filings. The PPH will benefit applicants from both countries in acquiring patents more speedily.
