International Business News – Following a successful pilot phase, IP Australia and the European Patent Office (EPO) have agreed to proceed with the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) project.
Continuing the program means that Australian applicants can continue to request expedited examination of their corresponding patents filed with the EPO. The EPO is the second most popular destination for overseas patent applications in Australia.
The PPH programs of the two offices cover applications filed through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and Paris Convention routes.
Through this project, the two offices were able to use the results of each other’s earlier work.