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A patent grants the legal owner exclusive rights to utilise his/her own invention. Filing a patent provides a great deal of advantages, patent is often regarded as strategic resources to commercialise research and development output from individuals and organisations. It is noteworthy that getting a patent registered is never an easy task, by referring to the statistics (year 2021) provided by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), it can be seen that 89% of the original patent filings have received objections issued by the US patent office. The patent claims submitted by the applicant may be objected by the patent examiner due to several grounds, for example the submitted claim is objected due to the existence of a prior art.
Patent prosecution is a tedious process that requires extensive legal and technical knowledge. The procedures are often lengthy and time consuming, especially when the applicant intends to file its patent application into more than one jurisdiction. Recently, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) introduced the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programme in collaboration with the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO). The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) initiative is a bilateral partnership of two patent office to accelerate the examination process of a patent application. Under the PPH initiative, if the claim of an application is found patentable by the first patent office, the subsequent patent office may proceed to utilise the examination results conducted by the earlier patent office. This dedicated program will play a significant role to assist respective patent offices in eliminating duplication of tasks.
The PPH pilot program commences on March 2nd, 2023 and will last for a period of three (3) years, ending March 1st, 2023. Either office are entitled to terminate the PPH pilot programme by way of notice. The eligibility to participate in the PPH program will be determined by MyIPO. The application must be filed via PPH Request Form that is readily available on the MyIPO official portal. As mentioned above, this is a bilateral partnership between two patent offices, therefore patent application from USPTO may also be expedited upon the applicant’s request.
The process of obtaining a Patent is challenging and very time consuming, however, it is an important process for those seeking to gain a monopolistic advantage over the market. The efforts made by both the US and the Malaysian Patent office to speed up the process would definitely be beneficial to business owners looking to enter the Malaysian and US markets. In order to ensure that a patent application is prepared and submitted properly, it is best to seek the assistance of a registered Patent agent. The task of the Patent agent will be to handle all matters involved in obtaining a Patent and to ensure important deadlines are not overlooked.
Pintas IP is a boutique Intellectual Property (IP) firm with offices located in Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, China and the USA. With 20 over years of experience in IP prosecution and enforcement, Pintas IP has the expertise to assist small and large entities to obtain and fully utilize their Intellectual Property rights. Schedule a free consultation to find out more on the Patent prosecution process and the PPH by contacting Pintas IP today.