Hanoi, Vietnam – The Intellectual Property Office of Vietnam (IP Vietnam) and the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) have continued to pilot the Patent Prosecution Highway program (PPH Program) for two (2) years from 1 June 2023 until 31 May 2025.
During the pilot implementation of the PPH Program between the two offices, IP Vietnam will receive 100 PPH requests per year for patent applications originating from KIPO (i.e. the applications which were previously submitted to KIPO) and meeting the conditions specified in the Guidance on Procedures for Submitting PPH Requests to IP Vietnam. In return, KIPO will annually receive 100 PPH requests for patent applications originating from IP Vietnam (i.e. the applications which were previously filed with IP Vietnam) and satisfying the conditions specified in the Guidance on Procedures for Submitting PPH Requests to KIPO.
The substantive examination stage would statutorily take around 18 months from the date on which a request for substantive examination is filed or from the date of the application publication, whichever comes later. By means of the PPH Program, the duration for such substantive examination may be shortened to 9-12 months computed from the filing date of a PPH request.
In order for a patent application to participate in the PPH Program, the following requirements on the application need to be satisfied:
- A request for substantive examination must be submitted before or at the time of filing a request for the PPH Program.
- IP Vietnam has not issued any Office Action (OA) on substantive examination before a request for the PPH Program is filed.
- All claims of the Vietnamese patent application, as originally filed or as amended, for examination under the PPH Program must sufficiently correspond to one or more of those of the corresponding patent application allowed/granted in KIPO.
- English translation of the allowed/granted claims of the corresponding Korean application must be submitted to IP Vietnam.
For further information, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected] and/or [email protected].
