JOINT ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE CONTINUATION OF THE PATENT PROSECUTION HIGHWAY PILOT PROGRAM BETWEEN THE KIPO AND THE IPOPHL

07 June 2017'

The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) and the Korea Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) agreed to continue its two-year bilateral Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Pilot Program in May 2017 to further assess its feasibility.  The PPH is a framework in which an application whose claims have been determined to be patentable in the Office of Earlier Examination (OEE) is eligible to go through an accelerated examination in the Office of Later Examination (OLE) with a simple procedure upon filing of a request. The implementation of this Program commenced in May 1, 2015. 

The IPOPHL-KIPO PPH follows the PPH Mottainai Program, which is similar with the guidelines adopted for the IPOPHL-Japan Patent Office (JPO) PPH. Applicants with corresponding patent applications filed in KIPO and IPOPHL can avail for preferential examination by filing a PPH Request and relevant documents prescribed in the corresponding guidelines. 

For further information on this extension, please refer to the Joint Announcement of the Continuation of the PPH Program between IPOPHL and KIPO. All other inquiries and specific questions about PPH should be directed to Ms. Cristina P. De Guzman of the Bureau of Patents at telephone number (+63-2) 238-6300 local 3802 or email cristina.deguzman@ipophil.gov.ph.