More countries sign PPH agreements
In order to promote internationalisation, the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO) has signed a number of Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) agreements. These allow an SPTO applicant to request fast-track processing in another office participating in this programme, providing certain requirements are met. Such agreements allow information to be shared among offices, prevent the duplication of efforts and speed up granting procedures, resulting in a better service.
In this context, the SPTO has recently signed agreements with the Russian Federal Service for Industrial Property (Rospatent) and with the Turkish Patent Institute. These took effect on 1 January 2017 and 15 January 2017, respectively. Today the SPTO has bilateral agreements with the offices in China, Japan, Colombia, Mexico, Finland, Peru, Taiwan, Morocco, Russia and Turkey.
Global PPH
Apart from the previous bilateral agreements and in order to simplify the existing network, the SPTO now belongs to a pilot programme named Global PPH (GPPH) which makes it possible to apply for fast-track examination in any of the more than 20 offices currently participating in the programme. Global PPH uses a single set of principles and requirements to simplify and improve the existing PPH network, making it more user-friendly.
The Polish Patent Office (PPO) joined the Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH) on 6 January 2017. The other offices participating in the GPPH to date are: Germany (DPMA), Australia (IP Australia), Austria (APO), Canada (CIPO), Korea (KIPO), Spain (SPTO), United States (USPTO), Denmark (DKPTO), Estonia (EPA), Finland (PRH), Hungary (HIPO), Nordic Patent Institute (NPI), Iceland (IPO), Israel (ILPO), Japan (JPO), Norway (NIPO), Portugal (INPI), United Kingdom (UKIPO), Russia (ROSPATENT), Singapore (IPOS) and Sweden (PRV).
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