NBPR and USPTO to Pilot Patent Prosecution Highway

Trial program to improve quality and pendency at both offices

The National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland (NBPR) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) launch a new trial cooperation initiative called the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) on July 6, 2009. The Patent Prosecution Highway will allow applicants to obtain patents faster and more efficiently. It also will permit each office to exploit the work previously done by the other office and reduce duplication. In turn, the initiative will reduce examination workload and improve patent quality.

“Serving our clients is our top priority,” says Mr. Martti Enäjärvi, President of NBPR. “We believe the reduction of duplication of examination work, speeding up processing, and improvement of patent quality will bring great advantages to Finnish and U.S. applicants. With this agreement the NBPR will now have PPH pilot programs with two major patent offices, the USPTO and the JPO. We are pleased with the new collaboration with these key offices and having the possibility to provide new alternatives for our clients.”

"This PPH pilot marks a new cooperative partnership with the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland. By taking advantage of the work done at each other’s office, we will avoid the inefficient redundancy of efforts and expedite the examination process at both offices. PPH plays an important role in our workshare strategy to counter the growing backlog and increasing pendency of applications” said Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting Director of the USPTO John Doll.

Under the Patent Prosecution Highway, an applicant whose application filed with either the NBPR or the USPTO contains at least one allowable claim may request that the other office fast track the examination of the corresponding application. Full requirements for participation in the trial program will be available prior to implementation at http://www.prh.fi/en/patentit/pph.html.

The purpose of the trial program is to gauge the interest of applicants and determine if the program improves quality and efficiency and reduces the workload at each office. The trial period between NBPR and USPTO will be set for one year but may be extended or terminated earlier depending on volume of activity and other factors. Both offices will provide notice of any adjustment in the trial period.

Further information:

Mr. Juha Rekola
Development Director
E-mail: firstname.surname@prh.fi
Tel: +358 9 6939 5504

Dr. Kenneth Gustafsson
Patent Examiner
E-mail: firstname.surname@prh.fi
Tel: +358 9 6939 5720

Dr. Ari Hirvonen
Patent Examiner
E-mail: firstname.surname@prh.fi
Tel: +358 9 6939 5726