Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) offers applicants accelerated patent examination, and thus opportunity to obtain the appropriate patent faster and more efficiently. It is based on using the work already carried out by other Office.

PPH pilot programs will allow the applicant who receives a decision from one Office that at least one claim is allowable / patentable to request that the corresponding application is granted a special status in the other Office and to have it advanced out of turn for examination. PPH pilot programs are limited to the use of search and examination results of national applications between cross filings within the Paris Convention.

Use of the PPH is the choice of the applicant. It should also be borne in mind that the Office of second filing (OSF), which has been asked for accelerated procedure on the basis of PPH, is not obliged to accept the opinion on patentability issued by the Office of first filing (OFF), and that the responsibility for determining patentability of the claimed invention lies always with the Office competent for granting protection in the given country.

Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic carries out a full examination and evaluation of the conditions of patentability of technical solutions in accordance with the laws and regulations applicable in the Czech Republic.

Continuation of Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Programs between the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic

The trial period, which started on 01 October 2012 and was set to expire on 30 September 2013, has been extended indefinitely. See IPO Bulletin 39-2013 CZ (September 25, 2013).

Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic launched a cooperation project called Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) with the Patent and Trademark Office of the United States (USPTO).

PPH project enables the exchange of information between Patent Offices and thus speeding up of patent procedure. Under this program, the Czech applicant will be able to request accelerated procedure before the USPTO, if the claims in the corresponding application, filed with the USPTO, have been determined by the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic as patentable.

Agreement on this pilot program of cooperation between the USPTO and the IPO shall enter into force on 1 October 2012.

Information for CZ applicants  - proceedings before the USPTO

Text of the PPH pilot program between the USPTO and the IPO, and the text of application for inclusion in the PPH

Working translation of the text of the agreement in Czech (pdf, 94 kB)

Information for applicants from US - proceedings before the IPO

Text of the PPH pilot program between the USPTO and the IPO
in Czech (pdf, 2,7 MB)
in English (pdf, 2,88 MB)

Separate Annex 1 - Examples of the claims correspondence
in Czech (pdf, 45,5 kB)
in English (pdf, 12 kB)

Separate Annex  2 - Request for PPH  and table of the claims correspondence
in Czech (pdf, 131 kB)
in English (pdf, 14 kB)

Separate Annex 3 - Examples of IPO-CZ applications eligible for the PPH
in Czech (pdf, 234 kB)
in English (pdf, 206 kB)

Supplement to the PPH pilot program between the USPTO and the IPO: PCT-PPH Pilot Program (pdf, 6 kB)

Information on PPH projects of the European Patent Office

Industrial Property Office reminds that the USPTO has concluded a PPH  agreement with the European Patent Office (EPO) as well,  so the applicant from the Czech Republic, who receives a written opinion or an international preliminary examination report from the EPO as an International Search Authority and International Preliminary Examination  Authority may also file the request for participation in the PCT-PPH between the USPTO and the EPO under the above conditions.

A similar agreement is concluded between the EPO and the Japanese Patent Office.

Continuation of Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Programs between the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) and the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic

The trial period, which started on 01 November 2013 and was set to expire on 30 October 2014, has been extended indefinitely.

On 16 October 2013 the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic (IPO CZ) and the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland (NBPR) concluded Memorandum of Understanding on the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH). This Memorandum of Understanding will come into effect on November 1, 2013. The Offices will start the PPH pilot program on November 1, 2013. The duration of the PPH pilot program is one year and may be extended with the mutual consent of the Offices.

Memorandum of Understanding on PPH between IPO CZ and NBPR FI (pdf, 41 kB)

Information for applicants from FI - proceedings before the IPO

Text of the PPH pilot program between the NBPR and the IPO

IPO CZ PPH Guidelines for Finnish applicants (pdf, 107 kB) 

Annex 1 - Examples of IPO-CZ applications eligible for the PPH (pdf, 38 kB)

Annex 2 - Request for PPH and table of the claims correspondence (pdf, 297 kB) 

Information for CZ applicants - proceedings before the PRH

Text of the PPH pilot program between the NBPR and the IPO, and the text of request for the PPH:

PRH PPH Guidelines for Czech filers (pdf, 133 kB)

More information available on the PRH website.

Continuation of Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program between and the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic

The trial period, which started on 01 April 2015 and was set to expire on 31 March 2018, has been extended indefinitely.

The Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic (IPO CZ) and the Japan Patent Office (JPO) concluded the Joint Statement of Intent between the JPO and the IPO CZ to Cooperate in the Field of Patent Prosecution Highway. This Statement comes into effect on April 1, 2015 and that day the Offices start the PPH pilot programme. The duration of the PPH pilot programme is three years and may be extended with the mutual consent of the Offices.

Joint Statement of Intent between the JPO and the IPO CZ(pdf, 473 kB)

Information for applicants from CZ - proceedings before the JPO

Guidelines (Requirements and procedures in detail) and Request form, see this page on the JPO website.

Commencement of the Patent Prosecution Highway Program between the JPO and the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic can be found here. For more information about PPH Projects, see also the PPH section on the JPO website.

Information for applicants from JP - proceedings before the IPO CZ

Information also available on the JPO website.

Procedures to file a request to the IPO CZ: Guidelines for JP applicants (pdf, 552 kB)

PPH Request Form (doc, 23 kB)

PCT-PPH Request Form (doc, 24 kB)

The trial period of the PPH programme between the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic (IPO CZ) and the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) was extended to another 3 years with effect from 1 January 2023. The programme may be again extended if necessary.

The Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic (IPO CZ) and the State Intellectual Property Office of the P. R. China (SIPO) concluded the Joint Statement of Intent to Cooperate in the Field of Patent Prosecution Highway. According to this statement the pilot programme of the PPH was launched on January 1, 2018. The duration of this programme is two years and may be extended if necessary.

Joint Statement of Intent (pdf, 822 kB)

Information for applicants from CZ – proceedings before the CNIPA

Guidelines (Requirements and procedures in detail) and Request form (pdf, 552 kB).

Information for applicants from China – proceedings before the IPO CZ

Procedures to file a request to the IPO CZ: Guidelines for CN applicants (pdf, 408 kB)

PPH Request Form (docx, 24 kB)

PCT-PPH Request Form (docx, 23 kB)

More information about PPH can be accessed at the JPO website.

Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic has concluded bilateral agreements on cooperation with partner authorities of Finland, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Spain.

In these Offices the applicant obtains the advantage of accelerated patent procedure in the given country, based on the presentation of the search report drawn up by the Partner Office.

Text of the Agreement with Finland (pdf, 69 kB)

Text of the agreement with Croatia (pdf, 52 kB)

Text of the Agreement with Hungary (pdf, 58 kB)

Text of the Agreement with Poland (pdf, 58 kB)

Text of the Agreement with Austria (pdf, 58 kB)

Text of the Agreement with Slovakia (pdf, 52 kB)

Text of the Agreement with Spain (pdf, 63 kB)