JPO and GPTO agreed to commence the Japan-Germany Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program at the Heads Meeting between the JPO and the GPTO held in Tokyo on October 19, 2007. (Commencement of the pilot program is slated for March 2008). The Patent Prosecution Highway Program aims to accelerate the patent registration process abroad, alleviate the burden on patent examiners who work at the JPO and the GPTO, and improve the quality of patent examination.
The realization of the Japan-Germany Patent Prosecution Highway Program was stipulated in the “Advanced Measures for Accelerating Reform toward Innovation Plan in Patent Examination” (AMARI Plan 2007 adopted by the Headquarters of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on January 25, 2007) to promote the acquisition of patent rights on a global scale. METI was expected to reach a decision on this matter as quickly as possible.

There is a growing need to acquire patent rights in several countries as more and more companies operate on a global scale. Because of this, patent owners file patent applications with same details in several regions. Under the circumstances, countries are working to establish an international framework that enables the searching and mutual utilization of patent examination results and advances international work sharing, with an eye to improving patent examinations and accelerating patent registration.

Under the “Patent Prosecution Highway Program,” if the patent office of the country where the patent application had been filed for the first time decides that the invention was patentable, the patent office of the country where the patent application will be filed for the second time will be able to conduct a simplified examination of the invention, thereby accelerating the patent registration speed. The program also enables the second country to search and utilize the results of the patent examination conducted by the first country. In this way, the program accelerates the patent registration process abroad, reduces patent registration and examination costs, and improves the quality of patent examination.

The JPO and the GPTO will make necessary adjustments to launch the pilot program in March 2008.

Japan and the United States launched the pilot program in July 2006. The Japan-South Korea Prosecution Highway Pilot Program began in April 2007 and the Japan-UK Prosecution Highway Pilot Program in July 2007, respectively. The Japan-Germany Prosecution Highway Pilot Program will be the fourth pilot program Japan is set to implement, and the second pilot program to be implemented with a European partner after the UK.

In the meantime, a growing number of countries are entering into similar programs and the United States and the UK will begin the Prosecution Highway Pilot Program in September 2007. The expansion of similar programs is expected to lead to the creation of a global network of bilateral prosecution highway stretching to cover a number of countries.

The JPO will continue its efforts to reach an agreement for the realization of the prosecution highway program with the European Patent Office (EPO), and the patent offices of Denmark, Canada and Australia, with which the JPO is holding discussions. The JPO also plans to enter into negotiations with other countries in order to increase the number of partner countries.