Newsletter
The TIPO-INPI PPH MOTTAINAI Pilot Program Became Effective on 1 July 2025
To better facilitate patent cooperation, the TIPO-INPI PPH MOTTAINAI pilot program became effective on 1 July 2025. Unless terminated earlier, the program will automatically be fully implemented after 30 June 2027 under the same conditions as the pilot program.
Taking the Taiwanese patent application as an example, the following requirements shall be met if the applicant would like to rely on the examination results of a corresponding French patent application to file for accelerated examination under the PPH for a Taiwanese patent application with the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office ("TIPO").
(I) Both the Taiwanese application and the corresponding French application shall have the same earliest date.
(II) The corresponding French application shall comprise at least one claim determined to be allowable/patentable (i.e., clearly indicated as "determined to be allowable/patentable" in the latest office action) by the INPI (Institut National de la Propriété Industrielle).
(III) All claims, either at the time of filing for accelerated examination under the PPH or at subsequent amendment, must sufficiently correspond to one or more claims indicated as allowable by the INPI.
(IV) The applicant shall have been notified that substantive examination will begin shortly, and the TIPO shall not have issued a first office action.
An applicant shall submit the following documents for the PPH program:
(i) A petition for filing for the PPH program.
(ii) A copy of all office actions relating to the corresponding French application issued by the INPI, along with translations thereof.
(iii) A copy of the claims determined to be allowable/patentable by the INPI, along with translations thereof.
(iv) A copy of references cited by the INPI examiner.
(v) A table showing how the claims of the Taiwanese application correspond to those of the corresponding French application.
After the commencement of the TIPO-INPI PPH MOTTAINAI pilot program, PPH programs have been implemented between Taiwan and the United States, Japan, Spain, Korea, Poland, and France. Applicants can take the information outlined here into consideration in order to craft optimal patent application strategies.