New opportunities for faster and cheaper patenting in China

(23 March 2020): In the autumn 2019, the Norwegian Industrial Property Office (NIPO) and the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) signed a cooperation agreement for processing patent applications. The agreement enters into force on 1 April 2020 and will initially last for three years.

The agreement is a pilot for PPH collaboration. PPH stands for "Patent Prosecution Highway". This is a scheme that allows cooperating patent authorities to use each other's examination reports and statements on patentability when processing an application. These reports are an important part of the assessments made by national patent authorities when deciding whether an application meets the necessary requirements for a patent.

The PPH agreement can thereby reduce unnecessary duplication in application processing, and can make it faster and cheaper for patent applicants to obtain a patent in the other country.

Procedures to file a request to the CNIPA for PPH Pilot Program between CNIPA and NIPO (PDF)
Procedures to file a request to the NIPO for PPH Pilot Program between CNIPA and NIPO (PDF)