How to Use the PPH to Accelerate Your Patent

The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) lets you fast-track patent examination at a second office based on an allowance at a first office. It typically reduces examination from 18–36 months to 3–6 months and cuts prosecution costs by 40–60%. This tutorial shows you exactly how to file a PPH request.

The Basic Concept

You have a patent application allowed (or granted) at Office A. You have a corresponding application pending at Office B. You file a PPH request at Office B, showing them the allowed claims from Office A. Office B accelerates examination — giving significant weight to Office A's positive result.

Step 1: Get Your First Allowance

Choose a fast office for your first filing:

Japan and Korea are the fastest — and both have extensive PPH networks. A Japanese allowance can be used to accelerate prosecution at the USPTO, EPO, CNIPA, KIPO, and 20+ other offices.

Step 2: Confirm PPH Availability

Check that a PPH agreement exists between your first office (Office of Earlier Examination, OEE) and your target office (Office of Later Examination, OLE). The WIPO PPH portal (wipo.int/pph) lists all active bilateral and multilateral (GPPH) agreements.

Most major office pairs are covered. Under the Global PPH (GPPH), a positive result at any participating office can be used at any other participating office — simplifying the bilateral requirement.

Step 3: Align Your Claims

The claims at the OLE must "sufficiently correspond" to the claims allowed at the OEE. This means the claims at the second office must be of the same or narrower scope as the allowed claims at the first office.

If your claims at the OLE are broader than those allowed at the OEE, you must amend them to correspond before filing the PPH request. Your patent attorney will draft the correspondence.

Step 4: Prepare the PPH Request Package

The typical PPH request includes:

1. A copy of the allowed claims from the OEE — the claims that were found patentable
2. The Office Actions and responses from the OEE — showing the prosecution history
3. A claims correspondence table — a side-by-side comparison showing how each claim at the OLE corresponds to an allowed claim at the OEE
4. A copy of the search and examination results from the OEE — the cited prior art and the examiner's analysis
5. Translations — if the OEE documents are not in the OLE's working language, translations may be required (machine translations are accepted at some offices)

Step 5: File the Request

File the PPH request at the OLE through its online filing system. Most offices have a specific PPH request form:

• USPTO: File through Patent Center; no additional fee for PPH request
• EPO: File a PPH request alongside the examination request; no additional fee
• CNIPA: File through the CNIPA online system; specific PPH form required
• JPO: File online; no additional fee
• KIPO: File online; no additional fee

Most offices do not charge an additional fee for PPH — the acceleration is free.

Step 6: Expect Faster Examination

After filing the PPH request, expect the first Office Action within 2–4 months (versus 12–24 months for standard prosecution). PPH applications have significantly higher allowance rates — typically 80–90% — and require fewer Office Action rounds.

The OLE examiner is not bound by the OEE's conclusion — they conduct their own examination. But the OEE's positive result creates a strong presumption that the claims are patentable, and the prior art has already been searched and addressed.

The Cascade Strategy

The most cost-effective approach for multi-jurisdictional prosecution:

1. File a provisional (US) or first application
2. File PCT within 12 months
3. Enter national phase in Japan with Super Accelerated Examination
4. Obtain Japanese grant in 2–6 months
5. Use the Japanese grant to file PPH requests at USPTO, EPO, CNIPA, KIPO simultaneously
6. All four offices accelerate examination — potential grants within 6–12 months of PPH filing

Total acceleration: from a typical 3–4 years per office to under 12 months across all major markets. Total cost savings: $2,000–$6,000 per office in reduced prosecution rounds.

Sources

1. WIPO — Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) — Overview of the global PPH framework and participating offices
2. USPTO — PPH Portal — US PPH request procedures and eligibility requirements
3. JPO — PPH Information — Japanese PPH programme details and bilateral agreements
4. EPO — PPH Pilot Programmes — European PPH pilot programmes and requirements