PPH agreement between Finnish, Korean and Hungarian Patent Offices

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January 8, 2009

NBPR, KIPO and HPO commence Patent Prosecution Highway

The National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland (NBPR), the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and the Hungarian Patent Office (HPO) are launching a Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program (PPH) that enables accelerating the prosecution of patent applications.

Accelerated PPH processing

Thanks to the PPH, one who has applied for patent in the associated offices can request for accelerated examination in the Finnish Patent Office if at least one of the claims accepted corresponds to those filed in Finland. Respectively, one can request for accelerated examination in either office based on at least one claim accepted in Finland.

The one-year trial period starts on January 4, 2010. The agreement is part of an international Patent Prosecution Highway Programme (PPH), which aims to reduce examination workload and improve the patent quality. The NBPR has previously made a corresponding agreement with the Japanese and United States Patent Offices.

In case you need any further information, please contact our patent attorneys.