Change in 'Accelerated National Patent Grant Program' (CAP)

In 2003 the Spanish Patents and Trademark Office set up the 'Accelerated National Patent Grant Program' (CAP). This programme enables applicants to obtain their patent in less than one year if they choose the General Granting Procedure, that is, without the Preliminary Exam.

What is the CAP?
The CAP programme allows for simultaneous application for the Search Report and publication within 18 months after the date on which the patent application was submitted, in line with the terms of article 32.3 of Act 11/1986 on Patents.

In order to improve the CAP programme, the current ‘Instruction on the application of internal measures to adopt the Accelerated National Patent Grant Program' has now been changed.

What is new is that applications of patents that are covered by formal or technical suspension are no longer automatically excluded.

For further information, click here.