When does the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) extend the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) to China? How long will last for this pilot project?
Q1: When does the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) extend the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) to China? How long will last for this pilot project?
A1: The Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) extended the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) to China by beginning a pilot project on September 1, 2013 between CIPO and the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China (SIPO). The pilot project will run for a period of two years, ending on August 31, 2015.
Q2: Will CIPO charge for PPH programs between CIPO and SIPO?
A2: At present, CIPO will process requests for advanced prosecution under the SIPO PPH free of charge.
Q3: What are the requirements for accelerated examination in Canada under the CIPO-SIPO PPH?
A3: The Canadian application for which participation in the PPH is requested and the corresponding Chinese application must be corresponding applications – that is, they must have the same earliest date (whether this is a priority date or a filing date).
At least one claim common between the Canadian application and the Chinese application must have been allowed in China.
All claims on file at CIPO, as originally filed or as amended, for examination under the PPH must sufficiently correspond to one or more of those claims allowed by SIPO. (An explanation of the notion of "sufficient correspondance" is provided on CIPO's website.)
The Canadian application must be open to public inspection.
CIPO must have received a request for examination, but not begun examination of the application.
In order to file a request for accelerated examination in Canada under the CIPO-SIPO PPH, the applicant must provide:
A completed PPH request form (downloadable from CIPO's website).
The Chinese office actions (CIPO will retrieve them; if it cannot, CIPO will request the applicant to provide a copy).
The claims of the Chinese granted patent.
A completed claim correspondence table showing the relationship between the claims of the Canadian application and the allowed Chinese claims (an example of such table is provided on CIPO's website).
Q4: How does the applicant file the request for examination under the PPH in Canada under the CIPO-SIPO PPH?
A4: The request for examination under the PPH may be made by mail, fax or electronically via the Industry Canada website. All subsequent correspondence with CIPO must be clearly identified as relating to a PPH application, to ensure that it is correctly processed.
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