Faster PPH Patent Application in Mexico
Faster PPH Patent Application in Mexico
The Mexican PTO, the Instituto Mexicano para la Propiedad Industrial -IMPI–, has recently announced the implementation of the Pilot Program for the Patent Prosecution Highway as a permanent cooperation program between the IMPI and the USPTO. This is great news for both Mexican and American patent owners, since they can easily avoid duplicate procedures reducing the time for getting final decisions from the PTO in 2700%. From aprox. 3 years to as low as 30 days for either granting of denying the patent application request. The IMPI also estimates that the approval rate of PPH Patent Applications is of 90%, compared to a 50% chance of granting for regular patent applications.
The USPTO-IMPI Pilot Program for the Patent Prosecution Highway was implemented on February 22nd 2011, later on it was extended until August 31, 2012 and turned into a permanent program for cooperation between these two PTOs since September the 1st 2012.
According the Mexican PTO, the PPH enables an application whose claims have been determined to be patentable in the Office of First Presentation (OPP) may undergo an expedited review in the Office of Second Filing (OSP) with a simple procedure at the request of the applicant. The patent will be easily granted in the OSP “in the same terms in which it was granted by the first office” as long as certain requirements are met in the application.
However, it is very important to keep in mind that, while the PPH greatly reduces the time for getting a patent registration, the applicant will still have to fulfill all the application requirements from both PTOs and will be subjected to national regulations. On the other hand, the PPH has been fully integrated with procedures under the Paris Convention and the Patent Cooperation Treaty, allowing for patent attorneys to easily adapt procedures to their client’s needs.
You can find detailed instructions for PPH applications in this guide published by the Mexican PTO, and the USPTO web page.
This is one of four programs that the PTO has implemented for Patent Prosecution Highways. Other similar agreements with the PTO include the Japanese, the South Korean and the Spanish PTOs. This allows easy technology transfer between the Mexican market and 4 of the historically top countries as to number of applications per year.
