Trilateral Patent Offices To Launch New Work Sharing Projects

The Patent Prosecution Highway, an information sharing network between certain patent offices, has recently had its potential expanded thanks to a new agreement between two of the “trilateral” IP offices, according to the group’s site [pdf]. In addition to the EPO, the trilateral group includes the Japan Patent Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The Patent Prosecution Highway is a series of bilateral agreements in which participating patent offices use work products of others in order to save time. The new agreement will incorporate the work products of the World Intellectual Property Organization Patent Cooperation Treaty in the PPH. These work products will include international search reports and written opinions, according to the trilateral website. The programme is due to launch 29 January 2010; its details are not yet available but will be posted here before launch.

Additionally, the EPO and the JPO have announced a pilot PPH project, according to an EPO press release. Intended to help both offices manage workloads, the project will allow a patent that has at least one viable claim in either the JPO or the EPO to file for fast-track recognition of corresponding claims in the other office, the EPO release said. This pilot is also due to launch on 29 January and will run for two years.