Patent Prosecution Highway docketing update
The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is a cooperative framework that allows applicants who receive allowable claims from one IP Office to obtain expedited examination of corresponding claims filed in another participating IP Office. Due to the prior examination, PPH applications are often in a better condition for examination and allowance than original applications, justifying expedited examination.
In 2024, U.S. applicants filed almost 11,000 PPH applications seeking to obtain expedited examination in other IP offices. At the USPTO, PPH applications represent about 8,600 applications, which amount to less than 2% of filings. They have an average first action pendency around 7.5 months.
As the pendency for non-PPH applications has grown from under 15 months in 2020 to over
22 months today, the USPTO has implemented a new approach that will docket PPH applications based on the pendency of non-PPH applications in the same technology area, targeting a pendency that is approximately half the time of non-PPH applications. PPH applications will still get the benefit of expedited examination as part of the PPH program, and as non-PPH pendency improves at the USPTO, so too will PPH pendency.
The USPTO is dedicated to sustaining the long-term value of the PPH program by ensuring that it continues to operate effectively within a balanced examination system that benefits all applicants.
Additional information is available here.
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