International IP Developments

AURELIA J. SCHULTZ

Ah, the lazy days of summer, when birds flutter high in the brightly lit sky and dreamy afternoons are spent under the shade of a sprawling tree. Life slows down and days float along with vacation and rest. What better way to enjoy the season than taking a dive into the patent pool, harmonizing with your European friends and having some new friends join you in your treaty teams.

BROADENING POOL OF PATENT INFORMATION

USPTO and Brazil’s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) have entered into a memorandum of understanding for a trial patent prosecution highway (PPH).¹ The PPH allows applicants who have received a patent from on office to request expedited processing for an application on the same invention in the other office.² This is the newest in a collection of PPH trials in which the USPTO is engaged.³ The PPH applies only to utility patents, not plant or design patents.⁴ Applicants with oil, gas and petrochemical inventions looking for fast-tracking in Brazil are limited to using applications filed no earlier than three years before the start of the program (i.e., dating from 2013 or later).⁵ Another of the USPTO’s PPH partners, the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) has entered into a PPH agreement with Vietnam’s National Office of Intellectual Property.⁶ The USPTO does not currently have a PPH with Vietnam.