U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Patent Work Sharing with Other Intellectual Property Offices
The USPTO has patent worksharing arrangements with various foreign intellectual property (IP) offices to improve patent examination efficiency and facilitate cooperation within the global patent system. Patent worksharing permits IP offices to collaborate in the examination of commonly filed patent applications. These are typically associated through a claim of foreign priority under an international framework, such the Paris Convention and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
Patent working sharing among offices can reduce some inefficiencies that IP offices can experience when repeating each other's work. The USPTO has various patent worksharing arrangements, including the Patent Prosecution Highway, the Parallel Patent Grant, and others. For more information, see the USPTO's webpage about pursuing international patent protection.
One example is the USPTO's agreement with the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI). Under this agreement, the IMPI provides the program called the Accelerated Patent Grant (APG). The new arrangement gives eligible patent applicants the option of using an expedited process for obtaining a patent grant in Mexico based on a U.S. patent grant. Under the APG process, an eligible patent applicant who has been granted a U.S. patent by the USPTO may choose that the IMPI grant a patent on a corresponding Mexican patent application at any time during its processing, following the publication of the application in the Mexican Industrial Property Gazette, subject to the relevant patent laws of Mexico.
Additional information can be found at the USPTO webpage about work sharing.
Information about the Firm
Olive Law Group, PLLC is an intellectual property law firm that represents its clients with respect to patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret matters. We are focused on how intellectual property and technology can be used to help obtain our clients' business objectives.
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