Chilean PTO Starts New PPH Pilot Program With USPTO

In September 2018, Maximiliano Santa Cruz, the former Director of the National Institute of Industrial Property of Chile (INAPI), and the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Geneva to start a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Pilot program between the two countries.

The PPH pilot program, which was launched on November 1, 2018, will last for three years and may be extended upon agreement between the parties.

Under the PPH program, participating patent offices agree that when an applicant receives a final decision from a first patent office concluding that at least one claim is allowed, the applicant may request expedited examination for the corresponding claim(s) in a corresponding patent application that is pending in a second patent office.