Essentials Of Inbound Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) In China

It has been a common practice for foreign applicants to file a PPH request to expedite the examination of a Chinese patent application based on a positive examination result of a foreign counterpart application, if expedition is the priority and the scope of the foreign examination result is also commercially acceptable. This would essentially conform the Chinese claims to the claims allowed for the foreign application (or a PCT application).

China currently has 20 PPH programs with almost all the major patent offices in the world, including the most-often used IP5 PPH program among China, the United States, Europe, Japan and Korea. It also accepts a PPH request based on the positive Written Opinion or International Preliminary Examination Report made by an International Search Authority or Preliminary Examination Authority.