As previously reported, the Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam launched a patent prosecution highway (PPH) pilot program last year with the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), following a very successful and ongoing pilot program with the Japanese Patent Office (JPO). The two-year Korea program began on June 1, 2019, and will end on May 31, 2021. The number of PPH requests accepted per year is limited to 100 from each office.
The IP Office recently announced that for the first year of the Korea PPH program, it received only 49 PPH requests, or about one-half of the allotted quota. This result was something of a surprise, as under the JPO pilot program, which also limits the number of requests accepted annually, each quota has been reached very quickly—on May 4, 2020, the allotted 100 requests were received within just a few hours.
For the second year of the Korea program, the IP Office began receiving PPH requests on June 1, 2020, and will accept them until May 31, 2021, or until the limit of 100 is reached.
Our experience has shown that the applications under the Japan PPH program were granted much more quickly than regular applications. Based on this, applicants from Korea are strongly encouraged to consider taking advantage of Vietnam’s PPH program.
For information on the conditions and procedures for filing a PPH request under the program with the KIPO, please contact us at [email protected].
