The ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation (ASPEC) Programme was
established on 15 June 2009 to allow IP Offices from participating
ASEAN member states to utilise the search and examination results
from another participating IP Office (the “first IP
Office”) as reference. Each participating IP Office will
grant the patent in the manner that is in accordance with its
national law – i.e. there is no obligation to adopt any of
the findings or conclusions reached by the first IP Office.
Usefully, the process runs in English, avoiding much of the
requirement for documentation (with the notable exception of the
specification) to be generated in languages other than English
during pendency of the application.
