Following the bilateral agreement between the IP Office of Vietnam (IPVN) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO) in October 2015, the Japan – Vietnam Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Pilot Program has undergone since 2016 with aim of reducing local backlog of Patent examination.
Japan – Vietnam Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) 2021 will start on April 01
Under this Pilot Program, applicants can request accelerated examination of their Vietnamese Patent applications based on the corresponding Japanese patent applications that meet a number of following requirements:
(i) A request for substantive examination of the Vietnamese patent application must be filed at the IPVN either prior to or at the time of the PPH request,
(ii) The first office action for the Vietnamese patent application has not yet been issued by the IPVN at the time the PPH request is filed, and
(iii) The claims under the Vietnamese patent applications must be identical and/or equivalent to those determined to be patentable in the corresponding Japanese patent applications.
As the number of PPH requests is limited to 100 per season makes it a very competitive program that requires high attention from patent applicants. For the first season, it reached the limited number during four months but it was only one day in the most recent season, attesting to its popularity in Vietnam.
This year, Japan – Vietnam Patent Prosecution Highway season will start on April 01, 2021. In the meantime, the required documents to accompany a PPH request should be prepared well in advance and filed in the morning of April 01, 2021. Should you need any assistance in this regard, please do not hesitate
to contact us via patent@ageless.com.vn or our Line Account ID: agelessip8888
We remain at your disposal for any further questions.
