INDIA: PPH BETWEEN INDIA AND JAPAN, THIRD-YEAR NOTIFICATION RELEASED BY THE INDIAN PATENT OFFICE
On December 13, 2021, the Indian Patent Office released a notification confirming the commencement of the third year of the PPH Pilot Program, under the Bilateral Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot project, which initially began in December 2019.
As per the notification, the IPO will start accepting the next round of PPH applications on a first-come-first-served basis under Chapter 5 of the PPH Guidelines from December 20, 2021.
The key noteworthy points while submitting a request to IPO under the said PPH program are:
· The number of requests for the PPH in IPO will be limited to 100 cases per year.
· An applicant who has filed a patent application, either alone or jointly with any other applicant, shall not file more than 10 PPH requests to IPO per year.
· The decision on Acceptance/Rejection/Defect noticed will be well communicated to the Applicant/Authorized agent via available online modes of communication.
· In case of defects, a Defect notice will be communicated to the Applicant/Authorized agent and the applicant will be provided an opportunity to rectify the defects within 30 days from the issue of notification of defects by IPO.
· Notwithstanding the above procedure, the timelines for filing a request for expedited examination shall be as prescribed under the Patents Rules, 2003.
If you wish to file a request under the IPO-JPO PPH program for any of your applications, please let us have your instructions and provide us with the required documents at the earliest.
The formal guidelines enlisting the requirements for filing a PPH application can be accessed here.
