UK and US experiment with copyright alliance

A one-year pilot scheme to speed up the processing of patent applications in the UK and the US has been launched.

The Patent Prosecution Highway will let patent applicants who have received an
examination report from the patent office in one country to ask for a faster examination of the corresponding patent application in the other country.

Based on an agreement between the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) and the US equivalent, the pilot follows a similar deal struck by the UK-IPO with the Japan Patent Office.

Jon Dudas, director of the US agency, said the project would reduce duplication, speed up processing, and improve quality, creating a more “rational” international patent system.

Work sharing between national patent offices is a key Gowers Review recommendation.

www.ipo.gov.uk

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