"Under the Patent Prosecution Highway, an applicant receiving a ruling from either CIPO or KIPO that at least one claim in an application is patentable may request that the USPTO fast track the examination of corresponding claims in corresponding applications. Similarly, if the USPTO determines that at least one claim is patentable, the applicant may request accelerated processing of corresponding applications filed at CIPO or KIPO."
"'By facilitating the direct use of each other's patent examination results, the KIPO-USPTO Patent Prosecution Highway will alleviate the examination workload and enhance the overall quality of examinations in our respective countries,' said Commissioner Sang-Woo Jun of KIPO. 'It will also be of great benefit for Korean and U.S. applicants as it will expedite the acquisition and commercialization of high quality patents.'"
The US-Korea Patent Prosecution Highway pilot program follows other such programs between Japan & Korea, the US & Japan, the US & Canada, the UK & the US, and the UK & Japan.
The trial program between the US and Korea is to run for one year, terminating on 28 January 2009.
Currently the UK-IPO also provides for online filing for UK patent applications and requests for entry into the UK national phase. The UK-IPO also plans to launch an online service allowing users to file forms and documents after the patent filing date.
"Sean Dennehey, Director of Patents said: 'This new service will make it much easier for customers to get copies of patent files, and is a significant extension of the range of services which can be accessed electronically.'"
Australia - public consultation on 'format shifting' of photo and films
The Australian Government (Attorney General's Department) has issued a public consultation paper, inviting submissions for a review of the sections of the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) which allow for the reproduction photographs and cinematographic films for private use in limited circumstances. The relevant sections of the Act, sections 47J and 110AA, introduced in late 2006, were seen as being "innovative and controversial." Therefore the amending legislation required that the Attorney General review the sections by the end of March 2008.
"The purpose of [the] paper is to invite submission of whether sections 47J and 110AA are operating satisfactorily or whether either provision should be modified in some way. No particular view or course of action is endorsed."
"A particular concern of this review is whether the extent of copying permitted … might be extended, such as to permit digital-to-digital copying, without causing significant harm to copyright owners."
Submission instructions can be found here [PDF] with closing date for submissions 29 February 2008.
United Kingdom - public consultation on new exceptions to copyright infringement
The United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) is calling for submissions in response to a consultation paper proposing new exceptions for copyright infringement. The proposals are based upon the changes recommended in The Gowers Review of Intellectual Property that was reported on in December 2006.
"The consultation considers how the Gowers recommendations on exceptions to copyright might be implemented in the UK." The proposed changes include modifying the education exception to allow distant education students to receive and view recordings of broadcasts remotely and also passages of printed works using interactive whiteboards, the introduction of 'format shifting' exceptions, a new exception for parody, expanding the range of materials covered in the research and private study exception, and also expanding the types of materials that can reproduced for perseveration and replacement by libraries and archives.
"'This will help us turn around trade mark applications more quickly while still providing our customers with a very high quality service. We also want to look at other ways of speeding up the process for registering trade marks.'"
It has been announced that the fast track service will cost an additional £300 with the application examined and an examination report sent to the applicant within ten business days. "For comparative purposes, standard applications currently take around one month from their filing date before they are examined."
The European Patent Organisation (EPO) has announced the accession of Croatia and Norway to the European Patent Convention (EPC). The two countries became members of the EPO on 1 January 2008.
The accession of Croatia and Norway means that there are now 34 member countries of the EPO, with patent protection obtainable in several or all of the member counties through one patent application.
"The European Patent Organisation's members now include all 27 members of the European Union, plus Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia also recognise European patents on their territory, making European patents valid in 38 countries and a market of around 570 million people."
US & Japan - trial of New Route for obtaining patents in foreign countries
The Japan Patent Office (JPO) has announced that in conjunction with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) the "New Route" for obtaining patents abroad will be trialed in a pilot project. The "New Route" project will allow the examination results from the first filing of a patent application to be utilisedby foreign Patent Offices when subsequent applications are filed.
The New Route will deal with applications filed through the Direct Application Route (Paris Route). "Under the New Route, a patent application filed with the Office of First Filing (OFF) will be regarded as being filed on the same date as the filing date in the Office of Second Filing (OSF). The search/examination results obtained in the OFF will be transmitted to the OSF within a certain period of time. At the same time, the New Route gives an applicant sufficient time (30 months from the filing (priority) date) to think over whether or not his/her application should undergo an examination in the OSF based on the search/results issued by the OFF."
"The New Route reduces the examination workload and increases the examination quality by providing for the mutual utilization of search/examination results on a full scale for Paris-Route applications, while giving an applicant more time to make a decision about whether to file overseas and the payment of accompanying costs."
As the New Route would require changes in the law in the US and in Japan, the pilot project will simply test the concept using the existing framework under the existing laws. In order to get the results of the pilot in a limited period of time, the applications for the pilot will be examined expeditiously at the OSF.
The trial will begin on 28 January 2008 and will finish when either 50 applications have been processed or 28 January 2009, whichever occurs first.
US & Japan - Patent Prosecution Highway to continue on full-time basis
On 21 December 2007 the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO) announced that the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) will be implemented on a full time basis from 4 January 2007. As discussed in previous IP Menu news articles, the pilot study of the PPH, which has been running for the last 18 months, was scheduled to end today.
"Under the PPH, an applicant receiving a ruling from either the JPO or the USPTO that at least one claim in an application is patentable may request that the other office fast track the examination of corresponding claims in corresponding applications. By basing the prosecution in the second office on patentable results from the first office, applicants can expect to obtain patents in both offices faster."
The requirements for participation in the USPTO-JPO PPH at the USPTO are being updated and will soon be made available here. The requirements for participation at the JPO can be found here.
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) have launched a pilot 
The Australian Government (
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