Pilot Program extended between Intellectual Property Offices

The Mexican Instituto de la Propiedad Industrial (IMPI) has recently publiched the following note:

The term of the Pilot Program for the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), between IMPI and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been extended.

Mexico City, March 06, 2012.- On February 22nd, 2011, The Institute announced the establishment of the first Pilot Program for the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), aiming to expedite and streamline the patent system in Mexico.The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) enables an application whose claims have been determined to be patentable in the Office of First Presentation (OPP) may undergo an expedited review in the Office of Second Filing (OSP) with a simple procedure at the request of the applicant.As such, each of the Offices win benefits from previous work, avoiding duplication of efforts and speeding the procedure for granting patents, resulting in a reduction in the examination workload and an improvement in quality of patents.This Pilot Program which became operational on March 12, 2011, provided an expiration date on February 29, 2012.Though, and derived that the use of the PPH has been proved as a successful and functional tool for the users of the industrial property system in Mexico, and that the use of it has contributed to the positioning of IMPI as a modern Institution in line with international trends in IP, in January 2012, IMPI held talks with the USPTO in order to extend the term of the PPH.Today IMPI and USPTO with pleasure announced that the PPH subscribed between both offices, extended its expiration day until August 31, 2012.

We also note that IMPI has signed (February, 29th) a cooperation agreement with the Brazilian Instituto Nacional da Propiedad Industrial (INPI).The news revealed that the "objective of the partnership is to strengthen technical cooperation between the two institutions, including activities such as exchange of experts, organization of training courses and events in industrial property, especially for small and medium enterprises. Another important focus is the use of Geographical Indication."