Take the Patent Prosecution Highway for a Faster Patent in Mexico, Peru and more Countries

There is a fast, efficient and economical way to file an application for a patent that is already register in another country, using the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH).

The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), is an agreement that speeds up the examination process of a patent application, and is basically a cooperation system among different patent offices between the countries that are part of this treaty.

Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Paraguay and Uruguay, are the only Latin American countries that recently sign this treaty, which was created on 2006 through several bilateral international agreements between the Japanese Patent and Trademark Office and the US Patent and Trademark Office, in order to accelerate the patent prosecution.

The patent offices that are part of the PPH have agreed that when an applicant receives a final ruling from a first patent office approving the claims, the applicant may request a fast track examination for the patent application when it is pending in a second patent office.

Mexico, Peru and Colombia are part of the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH).

This will allow applicants to receive a faster final disposing of a patent application; for example in Colombia the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC), used to analyze a patent application in approximately five years or more, but now a days with this new treaty they take three years or less to analyze it.

The Mexican Intellectual Property Office (IMPI), has also seen positive results with the PPH program because the applicant doesn’t have to wait the official time that the IMPI takes to start the substantial exam, providing the applicant time and money savings.

In Mexico, if the applicant do not request a fast track examination the patent application could last more than two years, but if they do request it, it could only last 15 business days, and will save up to 50% in the official fees.

In order to request the PPH process if you have to know which of the three PPH modes you need or is more accurate for the application you have. 

These are the three modes:

PPH: When the applicant requests a PPH it will have the benefit of an accelerated examination for their application at the Second Filling Office (SFO), using the examination done by the First Filling Office (FFO).

PPH Mottainai (Japan Patent Office): With this procedure an applicant can request a PPH at the Office of Later Examination (OLE) by using the examination results of the Office of Earlier Examination (OEE).

PCT-PPH: The applicant will obtained an expedited examination of their applicant using the international work of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which is carried out by the office acting as the authority in charge of performing the international search for the applicant. 

In order to request the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), you need to meet some requirements and follow relevant guidelines depending on the country you want to file an application. Remember that each country has its own jurisdiction and some countries may request different information, for this reason is essential to have legal advising in any intellectual property procedure.

If you are interested in requesting the PPH program and you have any further questions about the following steps that you need to follow in a Latin American country contact us and receive professional and legal advising.

Contact us via email: info@brlatina.com