What are the requirements for participating in the PPH program?

To participate in the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program, applicants must meet several requirements. According to MPEP 708.02(c), the main requirements include:

• Office of Earlier Examination (OEE) work product: The applicant must have a corresponding application with at least one allowable claim from an OEE.
• Claim correspondence: All claims in the U.S. application must sufficiently correspond to the allowable claims in the OEE application.
• Substantive examination: Substantive examination of the U.S. application must not have begun.
• PPH request: A request for participation in the PPH program must be submitted.

The MPEP states: The applicant cannot file a request for participation in the PPH program on the basis of an international search report (ISR) only. This emphasizes the need for a substantive examination result from the OEE.

To learn more:

• PPH requirements
• Office of Earlier Examination
• claim correspondence
• accelerated examination