UK And S Korea Launch Patent Highway

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

13 October 2009

The UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) and the South Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) have launched a 12-month pilot scheme that will speed up the processing of patent applications in the UK and South Korea.

The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) allows patent applicants who have received a favorable examination report by either the UKIPO or the KIPO to request a faster examination of the corresponding patent application filed in the other country.

It is intended that the scheme will examine the overall benefits that the service will offer businesses.

The pilot scheme with the KIPO follows earlier PPH agreements between the UKIPO and the Japan Patent Office and the US Patent and Trade Mark Office (USPTO).

Ian Fletcher, chief executive of the UKIPO, said: "The Patent Prosecution Highway with the [KIPO] builds on similar schemes with the Japan Patent Office and USPTO established last year which have shown great promise in streamlining the process of granting patents."

He added: "The PPH will help both our offices reduce duplication of work, speed up processing and improve quality. The benefit of PPH to business will be quicker, high quality and cost effective access to patent protection in the UK and Korea."

Koh Jung-sik, Commissioner of the KIPO, remarked: "Implementation of the PPH will further strengthen the cooperative relations between KIPO and the UKIPO in [the intellectual property rights] area. The PPH will also help applicants in both Korea and the UK acquire patents of high quality in an expedited and convenient manner."

The development of work-sharing arrangements between the UKIPO and other national patent offices is a key recommendation of the Gowers Review of Intellectual Property.

The Gowers Review, concluded by former Financial Times editor Andrew Gowers in December 2006, set out a number of targeted reforms to the UK's IP system to help strengthen the country's overall competitiveness. One of its recommendations was that the UK Patent Office be restructured as the UK Intellectual Property Office.

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