眾律國際專利商標事務所/眾律國際法律事務所

The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) enables an applicant, whose claims are determined to be patentable in the Office of First Filing, to request that the Office of Second Filing (OSF) expedite the examination of the corresponding patent application filed in the OSF, while utilizing the examination results of the Office of First Filing.

The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Pilot Program between the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO) started on September 1, 2011.  Applicants who first filed their patent applications with the USPTO and later filed their corresponding applications with TIPO may submit a request to TIPO for accelerated examination if the USPTO determined that at least one of the claims can be patented.

The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Pilot Program requires the applicants whose patent claims have been allowed by the USPTO to retain the same scope of claims or amend their scope of claims with TIPO to be narrower in scope. This condition will enable faster and more efficient examination. 

For those inventors who have filed their patent applications with the USPTO and who are interested in faster examination of their patent applications by the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office (TIPO), the Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program is a desirable choice. 

References:

http://www.tipo.gov.tw/ch/pph/twuspph.aspx?path=4097

http://www.tipo.gov.tw/en/ArtHtml_Show.aspx?ID=1470084d-4abc-4e11-a34e-b81a467b30f6&path=2531