CIPO Patent Prosecution Highway update

The pilot will run for two years ending on 31st August 2015, but may be extended as necessary. During the pilot, applicants will be able to request processing under the PPH free of charge.

In addition, as of 1st October 2013 CIPO’s PPH projects with Denmark and Korea were extended indefinitely, and the PPH pilot project with Japan was extended until 30th September 2016.

The requirements for processing under the PPH programmes in Canada are as follows:

• The Canadian and foreign applications must be corresponding applications.
• The foreign office must have indicated that at least one claim is allowable.
• The claims of the Canadian application must correspond to those indicated as allowable.
• The Canadian application must be open for public inspection.
• CIPO must have received a request for examination, but not yet started examination of the application.

Prosecution of applications under the PPH programme is usually much accelerated when compared to regular examination in Canada.