On January 6, 2019, the National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Intellectual Property Protection of Peru (INDECOPI) joined the Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH) Pilot Program.

The aim of the PPH program is to expedite the processing of patent applications and to reduce overlapping examination work done by different patent offices. Under a PPH program, an applicant who has filed a first application with a first patent office and has received a positive opinion that the claims are allowable/patentable, may request fast-track examination of a corresponding application pending at a second office.

The GPPH pilot program allows patent applicants to request accelerated examination of a patent application at any of the participating offices if its claims have been found to be acceptable by any of the other participating offices. The system includes both national and PCT applications.

Currently the following patent offices participate in the GPPH pilot program: IP Australia (IP Australia), Austrian Patent Office (APO), Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO), Estonian Patent Office (EPA), Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH), German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA), Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (HIPO), Icelandic Patent Office (IPO), Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ), Israel Patent Office (ILPO), Japan Patent Office (JPO), Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Intellectual Property Protection of Peru (INDECOPI), National Institute of Industrial Property of Portugal (INPI), Nordic Patent Institute (NPI), Norwegian Industrial Property Office (NIPO), Patent Office of the Republic of Poland (PPO), Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property (ROSPATENT), Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM), Superintendence of Industry and Commerce of Colombia (SIC), Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV), United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and Visegrad Patent Institute (VPI).

Additionally, the following PPH programs are currently running in the INDECOPI:

  • PPH INDECOPI-OEPM: On January 1, 2016, a PPH pilot program started between the INDECOPI and the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM). The pilot program runs in automatically renewable 2-year periods.
  • PPH Pacific Alliance: On July 1, 2016, a PPH pilot program started between the Chilean, Colombian, Mexican and Peruvian PTOs, all members of the regional collaborative project Pacific Alliance. The program will have a duration of three years, extendable to four years with previous agreement between the parties.
  • PPH PROSUR: On October 1, 2016, a PPH pilot program started between the Argentinian, Brazilian, Chilean, Colombian, Costa Rican, Ecuadorian, Paraguayan, Peruvian and Uruguayan PTOs, all members of the regional collaborative project on Industrial Property PROSUR. The program will have a duration of three years, extendable to four years with previous agreement between the parties.
  • PPH INDECOPI-JPO: On November 1, 2017, a PPH pilot program started between the INDECOPI and the Japan Patent Office (JPO). The pilot program was approved to run for a period of three years, which could be extended.

Source: https://www.wipo.int

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