New Patent Prosecution Highway opens between the UK and China
2 Jul 2014 11:29 AM
Patent Prosecution
Highway programme launched between the UK Intellectual Property Office and the
State Intellectual Property Office China.
A new pilot Patent Prosecution
Highway (PPH) programme was launched yesterday (1 July 2014) between the UK
Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and the State Intellectual Property Office
(SIPO) of the People’s Republic of China. The launch of the pilot
programme follows the signing of a Joint Statement of Intent by
the IPO and SIPO as part of the Prime Minister’s
visit to China in December of last year.
The PPH allows
applicants who have been successful in obtaining a patent at one office to
request accelerated processing of a corresponding application at the other. The
second office can make use of the work undertaken by the first office to more
quickly and efficiently process the application.
Minister for Intellectual
Property Lord Younger said:
The launch of the Patent
Prosecution Highway with China will enable innovative British businesses to
obtain patent protection in China more quickly and cheaply than ever
before.
This can only help to encourage
growth and enable UK businesses to work more closely with one of our most
important economic partners.
UK exports to China are growing
faster than our French and German competitors with exports almost doubling
since 2009 - reaching more than £1 billion per month.
The Patent Prosecution Highway
will also help to reduce duplication, helping to create a more efficient and
affordable system for businesses in both the UK and China.
The UK-China PPH pilot
starts on the 1 July 2014 and will run for an initial period of 2 years, ending
on 30 June 2016.
Notes to
editors
- The Intellectual Property Office
is an executive agency of the Department for Business, Innovation, and Skills
and is responsible for the national framework of Intellectual Property rights,
comprising patents, designs, trademarks and copyright.
- The Intellectual Property Office
has existing PPH agreements with the following
organisations: IP Australia, the Canadian Intellectual Property
Office, the Danish Patent and Trademark Office, the German Patent and Trade
Mark Office, the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland, the
Hungarian Intellectual Property Office, the Icelandic Patent Office, the Israel
Patent Office, the Japan Patent Office, the Korean Intellectual Property
Office, the Nordic Patent Institute, the Norwegian Industrial Property Office,
the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property, the Russian Federal Service
for Intellectual Property, the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, the Swedish
Patent and Registration Office, the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office
and the United States Patent and Trademark Office.