The National Institute of Industrial Property of Chile (INAPI) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) have agreed to participate in a Pilot Accelerated Patent Procedure Program (PPH).

Said PPH Pilot Program was established to allow, when the Office of Earlier Examination (OEE) has evaluated the patentability of an application, the Office of Later Examination (OLE), shall ensure that the applicant has the benefit of an accelerated examination of the corresponding request, as long as the requirements established in said memorandum and in the guides prepared by said offices are complied with.

The participants will be able to benefit from the PPH Pilot Program in its Mottainai and PCT-PPH modalities between INAPI and the USPTO in accordance with said Memorandum of Understanding.

This pilot program of the PPH began on November 1, 2018, and will be extended for a period of three years with an end date of October 31, 2021, which may be extended, if there is an agreement between the parties.

Currently, Chile has signed PPH Pilot Program agreements with the countries of the Pacific Alliance that includes Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Chile; with PROSUR composed of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Chile; with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO); with the Japan Patent Office (JPO); with the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (SIPO); and now with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), that is, a total of twelve countries plus Chile.

We invite our clients to use this instrument whose objective is to reduce the procedures times of patent applications in these countries and facilitate the processing process.

In case you need more information, we request to communicate directly with Eduardo Molina (emolina@villaseca.cl).