The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is expanding a program with the European Patent Office and the Japan Patent Office to increase work sharing among the three agencies.
The agreement, announced on Nov. 13, expands, just for the three agencies, the so-called Patent Prosecution Highway. That agreement generally allows applicants who obtain a ruling on at least one claim in a patent application submitted to one participating agency to request that other participating agencies fast-track examination of the patent.
