/ PPH Pilot Program with China will become effective on January 1, 2018

It is a great addition to the current PPH pilot programs with the patent offices of Prosur, Pacific Alliance, Canada and Japan.

The Chilean Patent Office (Inapi) has been signing a series of PPH Pilot Programs with homologous patent offices in the Latin American region such as the Colombian (CO), Mexican (MX), Peruvian (PE) and Chilean (CL) Patent Offices, with the aim of speeding up the patent examination processes in key countries of the Latin American region.

This important initiative also extends to the other Prosur countries, such as Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay. In this way, patent applications wherein Inapi (Chile) or Inpi (Brazil) have been designated as ISA, can also get an accelerated examination in the corresponding national equivalent case, provided that the ISR issued in the corresponding PCT application was favorable.

Inapi has also signed PPH pilot program agreements with the Canadian (CA) patent office (CIPO), the Japanese patent office (JPO) and the Chinese Patent Office (SIPO), thereby encompassing the benefits of this program beyond the Latin American region.

The PPH Pilot Program Inapi- JPO entered into force on August 1, 2017 and the corresponding Inapi-SIPO PPH pilot program will become effective on January 1, 2018.

To apply for any of these pilot programs in Chile, a PPH form has to be submitted with the basic information about the patent application and the examination results of the previous examination office, so that Inapi, as subsequent examination office; can check that the following minimum requirements are fulfilled:

– The patent applications claim the same priority and have at least one allowable claim;

– Inapi has not yet issued the first examination report and that no opposition has been filed against the patent application; and

– The claims accepted to registration by the previous examination patent office are substantially identical to those that will undergo substantive examination in Chile.