By Godson Umejiego, Senior Correspondent USA
Effective March 11, 2022, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will no longer grant requests to participate in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway (GPPH) at the USPTO when such requests are based on work performed by Rospatent as an Office of Earlier Examination under the GPPH.
In addition, in pending cases in which, prior to March 11, 2022, the USPTO granted special status under the GPPH to applications based on work performed by Rospatent, the USPTO will remove that status and return those applications to the regular processing and examination queue, meaning that they will no longer be treated as GPPH applications at the USPTO.
The USPTO has advised the Japan Patent Office, which serves as the Secretariat for the GPPH, of this decision.
