In association with the European Patent Office (EPO) our Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program leverages fast-track patent examination procedures so you can obtain patents faster and more efficiently.
Under the PPH pilot a patent applicant who has received a ruling that at least one claim in an application is patentable/allowable will be able to fast track examination of a corresponding application filed with the other PPH partner office.
Through this, IP Australia and the EPO will be able to exploit the work previously done by the other office.
The IP Australia-EPO PPH pilot program covers both Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and Paris Route applications. A PPH request can be based either
- on a PCT work product (written opinion or International Preliminary Report on Patentability) or
- on national examination.
where this work product is determined to have one or more claims which are deemed patentable/allowable.
Where our work product contains one or more claims that are determined to be patentable/allowable you may request participation in the PPH pilot program through the EPO. The procedures and requirements for filing a request with the EPO are available.
The pilot between us and the EPO is intended to be trialled for a period of three years until 30 June 2019. After this the results of the program will be evaluated to determine if and how the program should be fully implemented after the trial.
Requirements for participation in the IP Australia-EPO PPH in Australia
PPH - requirements and procedures.pdf
PPH - requirements and procedures.pdf
in PDF format [27 KB]
Request for participation in the IP Australia-EPO PPH Pilot Program
Please complete either of the following forms when requesting accelerated examination of your patent application under the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program:
- PPH - apply online using our online services
- PPH – Request Form (and submit this form via post).