India and Japan have agreed to allow each other’s patent offices to act mutually as competent International Searching Authority (ISA) andInternational Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) to accelerate prosecution (drafting, filing and negotiating) of patent applications in both countries.

This was decided in the fourth review meeting of the pilot Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program between DPIIT and the Japan Patents Office (JPO) under Memorandum of Co-operation (MoC) on Industrial Property through a virtual platform last week, according to an official release.

‘Acting mutually’

“Recognising the importance of industrial designs as industrial property, the Ministries agreed to continue co-operation in industrial design education,” said a release issued by the Commerce & Industry Ministry. Both sides agreed to commence the function of the offices acting mutually as competent ISA/IPEA from July 1, 2021, it said. The Ministries also agreed to hold a meeting of experts for smooth and appropriate operation.

The DPIIT expressed its appreciation to the JPO for its co-operation in conducting training program for trainees from India.

India had approved a MoC between the Indian Patent Office (IPO) and the JPO for entering into a PPH on a pilot basis for three years. This is a reciprocal arrangement, so the JPO will also be able to accelerate prosecution of a Japanese application using positive examination results received from the IPO.

The IPO will only offer acceleration for patent applications in certain technical fields such as physics, computer science, IT, electronics, metallurgy and automobiles.

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