Czech Patent Protection Office works closely with
Post# of 15624
Looks like they work closely with the USPTO!
Cooperation program between the USPTO and the IPO - Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)
Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic launched a cooperation project called Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) with the Patent and Trademark Office of the United States (USPTO).
PPH project enables the exchange of information between Patent Offices and thus speeding up of patent procedure. Under this program, the Czech applicant will be able to request accelerated procedure before the USPTO, if the claims in the corresponding application, filed with the USPTO, have been determined by the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic as patentable.
Agreement on this pilot program of cooperation between the USPTO and the IPO shall enter into force on 1 October 2012.
What is PPH?
Generally, the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is a bilateral agreement between two national Offices dealing with the intellectual property protection. It offers applicants accelerated patent examination, and thus opportunity to obtain the appropriate patent faster and more efficiently. It is based on using the work already carried out by other Office.
PPH pilot programs will allow the applicant who receives a decision from one Office that at least one claim is allowable / patentable to request that the corresponding application is granted a special status in the other Office and to have it advanced out of turn for examination. PPH pilot programs are limited to the use of search and examination results of national applications between cross filings within the Paris Convention.
Use of the PPH is the choice of the applicant. It should also be borne in mind that the Office of second filing (OSF), which has been asked for accelerated procedure on the basis of PPH, is not obliged to accept the opinion on patentability issued by the Office of first filing (OFF), and that the responsibility for determining patentability of the claimed invention lies always with the Office competent for granting protection in the given country.
Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic carries out a full examination and evaluation of the conditions of patentability of technical solutions in accordance with the laws and regulations applicable in the Czech Republic.
Post by PhoenixBleu on the other board.