How to Use the PPH to Accelerate Your Patent
Fast-track examination at a second office based on allowance at a first office. Typically reduces 18–36 months to 3–6 months. Free at most offices.
Choose a fast office for your anchor grant:
- Japan (JPO) — Super Accelerated Examination: 2–6 months, free
- South Korea (KIPO) — Super Accelerated: 2–6 months, minimal cost
- US (USPTO) — Track One: 6–12 months, ~$2,000 small entity
Cascade strategy: File provisional → PCT → enter national phase in Japan with Super Accelerated → get grant in 2–6 months → use PPH at USPTO, EPO, CNIPA, KIPO simultaneously.
- Check WIPO PPH portal (wipo.int/pph) for bilateral/multilateral agreements
- Confirm your OEE-OLE pair is covered (most major pairs are under Global PPH)
- Claims at OLE must "sufficiently correspond" to allowed claims at OEE
- If OLE claims are broader, amend to correspond before filing PPH request
- Patent attorney drafts claims correspondence
- Copy of allowed claims from OEE
- Office Actions and responses from OEE
- Claims correspondence table (side-by-side comparison)
- Search and examination results from OEE
- Translations (if required — machine translations accepted at some offices)
- File PPH request at OLE (no additional fee at most offices)
- First Office Action expected within 2–4 months (vs 12–24 months standard)
- PPH applications have 80–90% allowance rates
- Respond to any Office Actions promptly to maintain speed advantage
Claims Don't Correspond
If your claims at the second office are broader than those allowed at the first, the PPH request will be denied. Align claims before filing the request — don't assume the offices will sort it out.
Missing the Cascade Opportunity
A single first-office grant can accelerate prosecution at 5–10 offices simultaneously. Filing PPH requests one at a time instead of in parallel wastes months. File all PPH requests as soon as you have the anchor grant.
Not Choosing the Fastest First Office
Japan's Super Accelerated Examination grants in 2–6 months for free. Starting with a standard-speed office as your anchor means waiting 2–3 years before you can leverage PPH. Choose strategically.
PPH Request Filed.
Examination accelerated from years to months. 80–90% allowance rate. Total cost savings: $2,000–$6,000 per office in reduced prosecution rounds. The most cost-effective global patent acceleration strategy available.