CIPO-EPO Building Transatlantic Bridge On The Patent Prosecution Highway

In a key development, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) have announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program beginning January 2015. This bilateral agreement was signed at the 54th annual World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) General Assemblies in Geneva. 

The pilot program will be based on both nationally filed and Patent Cooperation Treaty work products. Under the program, patent applicants whose claims have been found to be patentable by either CIPO or the EPO can ask for accelerated processing of their corresponding applications that are pending before the other office.