USPTO and Hungarian IP Office Announce New PPH

Memorandum of Understanding on Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Program signifies cooperation between the U.S. and Hungary in intellectual property rights.

Washington – The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (HIPO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding making permanent the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program between the two offices and setting forth the common desire to implement further developments of the PPH program during a high level event in Budapest honoring Hungarian inventors and innovative companies.

“This Memorandum of Understanding marks a significant milestone of achievement in patent cooperation between our two offices,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, David Kappos. “It will promote high quality patents and expedite processing of applications in both offices by avoiding duplicative work and provide greater costs savings to applicants which will help to spur greater innovation and generate greater economic growth and job creation in both countries.”

“While the PPH pilot program between the USPTO and the HIPO has been operational since 2010, today we will make our cooperation in this field permanent by signing the Memorandum of Understanding,” said President of the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office, Dr. Miklós Bendzsel. “I believe that the possibility to accelerate the patent granting process will serve the innovative community of both markets and move us closer to our goal of a thriving twenty-first century patent system.”

Under the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), an applicant receiving a ruling from the Office of First Filing (OFF) that at least one claim in an application filed in the OFF is patentable may request that the Office of Second Filing (OSF) fast track the examination of corresponding claims in corresponding applications filed in the OSF. PPH will leverage fast-track examination procedures already available in the OSF to allow applicants in the OSF to obtain corresponding patents faster and more efficiently.

For additional information contact Marina Lamm at [email protected].