USPTO and DKPTO to Pilot Patent Prosecution Highway

Washington, D.C. - The Commerce Department’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO) today announced that they intend to launch a new trial cooperation initiative called the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) today. The Patent Prosecution Highway will leverage fast-track patent examination procedures already available in both offices to allow applicants to obtain corresponding patents faster and more efficiently. It also will permit each office to exploit the work previously done by the other office and reduce duplication. In turn, the initiative will reduce examination workload and improve patent quality.

“We are very pleased to be working in partnership with our Danish colleagues on this pilot. PPH is an integral part of our worksharing efforts to combat the growing global backlog of applications. By leveraging the work previously done by another office, we will be able to expedite the patent examination process and ensure higher patent quality,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Jon Dudas. More...