Romanian PTO Launches Pilot Patent Prosecution Highway Program with the US, Japanese PTOs

The Romanian PTO has recently launched the bilateral pilot Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programs with both the United States and Japanese PTOs.

The PPH agreements allow each participating patent office to benefit from the search and examination work already done by the other office. For example, an applicant that received a favourable ruling from one patent office on at least one claim in the application may request a fast-track examination of the corresponding application filed with the other patent office. The applicants thus benefit from patentability determination in multiple jurisdictions and reduced costs of prosecution.

The pilot programs will run for a period of four years – the one with the US ending on April 14, 2019 and the one with Japan ending on July 1, 2019, but they can be extended.

The Romanian PTO is currently not one of the offices participating in the Global PPH program.

Prepared by: Roxana Sarghi

For more information, please contact romania@petosevic.com.

Source: Romanian PTO