(status on 2 December 2024)
PCT-PPH - one of many worksharing initiatives
A number of bilateral agreements have been signed between patent Offices to promote worksharing and enable patent applicants to request accelerated processing in the national phase, where patent examiners can make use of the work products from the other Office(s). These work products can include:
- the written opinion of the International Searching Authority,
- the written opinion of the International Preliminary Examining Authority, or
- the international preliminary examination report issued within the framework of the PCT, subject to certain conditions.
By requesting that their applications be processed under these agreements, applicants can generally obtain a final action more quickly before participating Offices.
Reusing search and examination results in this way facilitates the prosecution of patent applications. The decision about whether to grant a patent, however, remains under the control of the national or regional Offices.
More about other worksharing initiatives among Offices
This list of PPH arrangements does not include agreements which are based on purely national examinations products; please see the PPH Portal website (JPO).
Global Patent Prosecution Highway
Under the Global Patent Prosecution Highway (Global PPH) pilot, a request for accelerated processing can be made at any participating office based on work products, including PCT work products, from any one of the other participating offices under unified criteria.
- Offices participating in the Global PPH pilot are:
| AT | Austrian Patent Office | ||
| AU | Australian Patent Office | ||
| BR | National Institute of Industrial property of Brazil (INPI) (Brazil) | ||
| CA | Canadian Intellectual Property Office | ||
| CL | National Institute of Industrial Property (Chile) | ||
| CO | Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (Colombia) | ||
| DE | German Patent and Trade Mark Office | ||
| DK | Danish Patent and Trademark Office | ||
| EE | Estonian Patent Office | ||
| ES | Spanish Patent and Trademark Office | ||
| FI | Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) | ||
| GB | Intellectual Property Office (United Kingdom) | ||
| HU | Hungarian Intellectual Property Office | ||
| IL | Israel Patent Office | ||
| IS | Icelandic Intellectual Property Office (ISIPO) | ||
| JP | Japan Patent Office | ||
| KR | Korean Intellectual Property Office | ||
| NO | Norwegian Industrial Property Office | ||
| NZ | Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) | ||
| PE | National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Intellectual Property Protection (Peru) | ||
| PL | Patent Office of the Republic of Poland | ||
| PT | National Institute of Industrial Property (Portugal) | ||
| RU | Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) (Russian Federation) | ||
| SE | Swedish Intellectual Property Office (PRV) | ||
| SG | Intellectual Property Office of Singapore | ||
| US | United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) | ||
| XN | Nordic Patent Institute | ||
| XV | Visegrad Patent Institute |
IP5 Patent Prosecution Highway
- Offices participating in the IP5 PPH pilot are:
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | |
| EP | European Patent Office | |
| JP | Japan Patent Office | |
| KR | Korean Intellectual Property Office | |
| US | United States Patent and Trademark Office |
User Experiences
- Carl Oppedahl [YouTube]
Submit PCT-PPH User Experiences
- The International Bureau invites PCT-PPH users to share their experience of using this accelerated procedure with other users. Submitted strategies and experiences will be posted online to assist other users in maximizing the benefits of this procedure.
E-mail submissions to: pct.legal@wipo.int
PPH General Information
PPH Mottainai
PROSUR-PPH
- Information about PROSUR-PPH
Alianza del Pacífico-PPH
- Information about Alianza del Pacífico-PPH
Bilateral PCT-PPH Agreements
For further information concerning forms and guidance on administrative procedures of each participating Office see:
Offices are listed by Office of Later Examination, to which applicants should submit their PCT-PPH requests (Global PPH, IP5 PPH and other multilateral PCT-PPH are not repeated for each possible Office combination).
| AP | African Regional Intellectual Property Organization has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Guidelines |
|
| AR | National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) (Argentina) has PCT-PPH agreements with: |
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| US | United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) | Guidelines / Form |
|
| This Office participates in the PROSUR Patent Prosecution Highway pilot . |
Guidelines / Form |
||
| This Office also has a number of PPH agreements which do not include PCT work products. Note that Argentina is not a PCT Contracting State. |
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| AT | Austrian Patent Office has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Guidelines |
|
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | |||
| This Office also has a number of PPH agreements which do not include PCT work products. | |||
| AU | Australian Patent Office has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| EP | European Patent Office | Form |
|
| This Office has a PCT-PPH accelerated examination procedure using PCT work products prepared by the Office. This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. |
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| BH | Directorate of Foreign Trade & Industrial Property, National Patent Office (Bahrain) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Guidelines |
|
| BR | National Institute of Industrial property of Brazil (INPI) (Brazil) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| CA | Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) |
||
| EP | European Patent Office |
Guidelines | |
| JP | Japan Patent Office | Guidelines |
|
| This Office also has a number of PPH agreements which do not include PCT work products. | |||
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | |||
| CA | Canadian Intellectual Property Office has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| BR | National Institute of Industrial property of Brazil (INPI) (Brazil) | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | ||
| EP | European Patent Office | Guidelines/Form | |
| This Office has a PCT-PPH accelerated examination procedure using PCT work products prepared by the Office. This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. |
Guidelines/Form | ||
| This Office also has a number of PPH agreements which do not include PCT work products. | |||
| CL | National Institute of Industrial Property (Chile) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Guidelines |
|
| EP | European Patent Office | Guidelines |
|
| This Office participates in the PROSUR Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | |||
| This Office participates in the Alianza del Pacifico Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | |||
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | |||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| AT | Austrian Patent Office | Forms (see below) | |
| CA | Canadian Intellectual Property Office | Forms | |
| CL | National Institute of Industrial Property (Chile) | Forms | |
| ES | Spanish Patent and Trademark Office | Forms | |
| FI | Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) | Forms | |
| IL | Israel Patent Office | Forms | |
| RU | Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) (Russian Federation) | Forms | |
| SE | Swedish Intellectual Property Office (PRV) | Forms | |
| SG | Intellectual Property Office of Singapore | Forms | |
| This Office participates in the IP5 Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | Form | ||
| This Office also has a number of PPH agreements which do not include PCT work products. | |||
PPH Forms at this Office include a PPH request formand a Form for making corrections . |
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| CO | Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (Colombia) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| EP | European Patent Office | Guidelines |
|
| JP | Japan Patent Office | Guidelines |
|
| This Office participates in the PROSUR Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | |||
| This Office participates in the Alianza del Pacifico Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | |||
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | |||
| This Office also has a number of PPH agreements which do not include PCT work products. | |||
| CZ | Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Guidelines/Form | |
| JP | Japan Patent Office | Guidelines/Form | |
| US | United States Patent and Trademark Office | Guidelines/Form | |
| DE | German Patent and Trade Mark Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | Guidelines/Form | |
| This Office also has a PPH agreement which does not include PCT work products. | |||
| DK | Danish Patent and Trademark Office has PCT-PPH agreements with: | Guidelines/Form | |
| BR | National Institute of Industrial Property (Brazil) | Guidelines |
|
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Form |
|
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | |||
| EA | Eurasian Patent Office has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| EP | European Patent Office | ||
| FI | Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) | Guidelines |
|
| JP | Japan Patent Office | Guidelines/Form |
|
| KR | Korean Intellectual Property Office |
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| This Office also has a number of PPH agreements which do not include PCT work products. | |||
| EE | Estonian Patent Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | Guidelines/Forms | |
| EG | Egyptian Patent Office (EGYPO) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| JP | Japan Patent Office | Guidelines/Form |
|
| EP | European Patent Office has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| AU | Australian Patent Office | Form |
|
| BR | National Institute of Industrial Property (Brazil) | Form |
|
| CA | Canadian Intellectual Property Office | Form |
|
| CL | National Institute of Industrial Property (Chile) | Form |
|
| IL | Israel Patent Office | Form |
|
| RU | Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) (Russian Federation) (suspended by EP) | Form |
|
| SG | Intellectual Property Office of Singapore | Form |
|
| This Office participates in the IP5 Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | Form |
||
| This Office also has a number of PPH agreements which do not include PCT work products. | |||
| ES | Spanish Patent and Trademark Office has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| FI | Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) | Form |
|
| JP | Japan Patent Office | Form |
|
| RU | Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) (Russian Federation) | Form |
|
| TR | Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (Turkpatent) | Guidelines |
|
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | Form |
||
| This Office also has a number of PPH agreements which do not include PCT work products. | |||
| FI | Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Form | |
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | |||
| This Office also has a PPH agreement which does not include PCT work products. | |||
| FR | National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) (France) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| BR | National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) (Brazil) | ||
| CA | Canadian Intellectual Property Office | ||
| KR | Korean Intellectual Property Office | ||
| US | United States Patent and Trademark Office | ||
| INPI (FR) has closed its national route. However, PCT work products could be used in parallel national filings at INPI (FR). | |||
| This Office also has a PPH agreement which does not include PCT work products. | |||
| GB | Intellectual Property Office (United Kingdom) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| BR | National Institute of Industrial Property (Brazil) | Guidelines / Form |
|
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Guidelines / Form |
|
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | Guidelines / Form |
||
| In addition, the United Kingdom’s PCT (UK) Fast Track system allows applicants to request accelerated examination in the United Kingdom national phase if their international application has received a positive International Preliminary Report on Patentability (either Chapter I or Chapter II) regardless of which authority has issued that report. This system was relaxed on June 8, 2012, and now allows applicants to make changes to an international application, and still request accelerated examination in the UK. | |||
| HU | Hungarian Intellectual Property Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Form |
|
| ID | Directorate General of Intellectual Property (Indonesia) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| JP | Japan Patent Office | Form |
|
| IL | Israel Patent Office has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | ||
| EP | European Patent Office | Guidelines |
|
| This Office has a PCT-PPH accelerated examination procedure using PCT work products prepared by the Office. | |||
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | Guidelines |
||
| This Office also has a number of PPH agreements which do not include PCT work products. | |||
| IS | Icelandic Intellectual Property Office (ISIPO) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Guidelines/Forms |
|
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | Guidelines | ||
| JP | Japan Patent Office has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| BR | National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) (Brazil) | Guidelines |
|
| EG | Egyptian Patent Office (EGYPO) | Guidelines/ Form |
|
| PH | Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) | Guidelines/ Form |
|
| TR | Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (Turkpatent) | Guidelines |
|
| This Office has a PCT-PPH accelerated examination procedure using PCT work products prepared by the Office. This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway and the IP5 Patent Prosecution Highway pilots. |
|||
| This Office also has a number of PPH agreements which do not include PCT work products. | |||
| KR | Korean Intellectual Property Office has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| This Office also a PCT-PPH accelerated examination procedure using PCT work products prepared by the Office. | Guidelines |
||
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway (Guidelines/Form). This Office participates in the IP5 Patent Prosecution Highway (Guidelines/Form) pilots. |
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| This Office also has a number of PPH agreements which do not include PCT work products. | |||
| MX | Mexican Institute of Industrial Property has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| AT | Austrian Patent Office | Guidelines |
|
| CA | Canadian Intellectual Property Office | Guidelines |
|
| CL | National Institute of Industrial Property (Chile) | Guidelines |
|
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Guidelines |
|
| EP | European Patent Office | Guidelines |
|
| ES | Spanish Patent and Trademark Office | Guidelines |
|
| JP | Japan Patent Office | Guidelines |
|
| SG | Intellectual Property Office of Singapore | Guidelines |
|
| US | United States Patent and Trademark Office | Guidelines |
|
| This Office participates in the Alianza del Pacifico Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | Guidelines |
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| MY | Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Guidelines |
|
| EP | European Patent Office | ||
| JP | Japan Patent Office | Guidelines/Form |
|
| KR | Korean Intellectual Property Office | Guidelines |
|
| NI | Registry of Intellectual Property (Nicaragua) | ||
| US | United States Patent and Trademark Office | ||
| NO | Norwegian Industrial Property Office | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Guidelines/Form |
|
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | Guidelines/Form | ||
| NZ | Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand has PCT-PPH Agreements with: | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration Patent Prosecution Highway | Guidelines | |
| EP | European Patent Office | Guidelines | |
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | Guidelines | ||
| PE | National Institute for the Defense of Competition and Intellectual Property Protection (Peru) | ||
| EP | European Patent Office | Guidelines | |
| ES | Spanish Patent and Trademark Office | Guidelines/Form |
|
| JP | Japan Patent Office | Guidelines |
|
| This Office also participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | |||
| This Office participates in the PROSUR Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | Guidelines |
||
| This Office participates in the Alianza del Pacifico Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | Guidelines |
||
| PH | Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| EP | European Patent Office | Guidelines /Form | |
| JP | Japan Patent Office | Guidelines /Form | |
| KR | Korean Intellectual Property Office | Guidelines /Form | |
| US | United States Patent and Trademark Office | Guidelines /Form | |
| PL | Patent Office of the Republic of Poland has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Form |
|
| This Office also participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. This Office also has a number of PPH agreements which do not include PCT work products. |
Guidelines/Form | ||
| PT | National Institute of Industrial Property (Portugal) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Guidelines/Form |
|
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | |||
| RO | State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (Romania) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| JP | Japan Patent Office | Guidelines/Form | |
| US | United States Patent and Trademark Office | Guidelines/Form | |
| RU | Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) (Russian Federation) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | ||
| EP | European Patent Office | ||
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | Guidelines/Form | ||
| This Office also has a number of PPH agreements which do not include PCT work products. | |||
| SA | Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Guidelines / Form |
|
| EP | European Patent Office (EPO) | Guidelines / Form |
|
| JP | Japan Patent Office (JPO) | Guidelines / Form |
|
| SG | Intellectual Property Office of Singapore | Guidelines / Form |
|
| US | United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) | Guidelines / Form |
|
| This Office also has a number of PPH agreements which do not include PCT work products. | |||
| SE | Swedish Intellectual Property Office (PRV) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| BR | National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) (Brazil) | Guidelines /Form |
|
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Guidelines /Form |
|
| This Office also has a PCT-PPH accelerated examination procedure using PCT work products prepared by the Office. | Guidelines/Form | ||
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | Guidelines/Form | ||
| SG | Intellectual Property Office of Singapore has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| BR | National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) (Brazil) | Guidelines |
|
| CN | China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) | Guidelines |
|
| EP | European Patent Office | Guidelines |
|
| This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. | Guidelines |
||
| TR | Turkish Patent and Trademark Office (Turkpatent) has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| ES | Spanish Patent and Trademark Office | Guidelines | |
| JP | Japan Patent Office | Guidelines | |
| US | United States Patent and Trademark Office has PCT-PPH agreements with: | ||
| BR | National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) (Brazil) | Form /FAQs |
|
| This Office also has a PCT-PPH accelerated examination procedure using PCT work products prepared by the Office. This Office participates in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. This Office participates in the IP5 Patent Prosecution Highway pilot. |
Form /FAQs Form /Guidelines /FAQs Form /Guidelines /FAQs |
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| This Office also has a number of PPH agreements which do not include PCT work products. | |||