A new cooperation between patent Offices in Sweden, U.S. and Japan provides Swedish and other Nordic companies with a means of significantly accelerating process of their international patent applications in the national phase. The bilateral agreement is called "Patent Prosecution Highway - Patent Cooperation Treaty” (PCT-PPH).
- By entering into these bilateral agreements, the risk of unnecessary duplication of work is kept to a minimum which will increase quality and provide more effective procedures, says Susanne Ås Sivborg, Director General of PRV.
Agreements with the patent Offices in Japan and the U.S. run as pilot programs and will be evaluated to consider whether there are grounds for making permanent agreements and determine whether there are reasons to conclude similar agreements with other countries.
What is the Patent Prosecution Highway-Patent Cooperation Treaty?
The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international convention allowing you to file a single application in one language and get an international filing date. This means that the application is considered as filed in all the PCT contracting states, today more than 140. A PCT-application itself does not lead to a patent, rather to an international search and a written opinion regarding patentability (novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability). The international search and the written opinion are carried out centrally by a few patent authorities, one of which is the Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV).
By filing a PCT application you can postpone the often costly decision on which countries you finally want patent protection in. The agreements with the patent Offices in Japan and the U.S. according to the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) provide an opportunity for priority when pursuing your PCT-application in these countries.
PPH-agreements are bilateral agreements
The decisions to grant patents in each country are taken by the individual patent office. PPH is an initiative for efficient handling of patent applications in which the patent Office number two in turn; make use of the work already performed by the patent Office who initially received the application. PPH is a voluntary offer to applicants. In order to qualify for the offer you must submit a request to the patent Office where you wish to get priority from. A Swedish company, which has filed a PCT-application to PRV and want to complete the application in the U.S. and Japan, must therefore submit a request for priority to U.S. and Japanese patent Offices.
- In our global economy, the need to protect an innovation in several countries has increased. Patent protection is based on national laws and this has led to patent offices around the world considering the same patent application independently of the others. It is important to collaborate to enable offices to exploit relevant work already conducted by another office, says Susanne Ås Sivborg.
Further information
To get an overview of the system as such, please visit http://www.jpo.go.jp/ppph-portal/index.htm
Information about the new PPH-PCT agreements at PRV's website
About us
Every day at PRV, we have the privilege of working with new ideas at the frontier of technology. PRV provides protection and exclusive rights for technological ideas, trademarks and industrial designs. If you want to change your personal name, you need to contact us. We also issue publication certificates for journals. We offer search and advisory services, as well as courses, in all areas of our operations.
Contact information
Information about PPH-PCT:
Herman Phalén
Process Owner
herman.phalen@prv.se
+ 46 8 782 27 98
Marie Eriksson
Legal Director
marie.eriksoon@prv.se
+ 46 8 782 25 84
Additional information:
Paula Lembke
Press officer
paula.lembke@prv.se
+46 8 782 28 45
General issues:
PRV Customer service
kundtjanst@prv.se
+46 8 782 28 00
