Five Largest IP Offices to Begin Trial Run of the PCT Collaborative Search Program Starting Next May

The five largest IP offices (IP5) which include the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the European Patent Office (EPO), the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO), and the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) recently held their Heads Meeting. The offices agreed to start a trial run for a system for providing International Search Reports through the collaboration of the IP5 offices starting next May.

The name of this system is known as the PCT Collaborative Search and Examination Pilot Project. This system will involve judging the patentability of various PCT applications through the collaborative efforts of a primary patent office and a secondary patent office in order to create International Search Reports and provide these ISRs to applicants. The expectation of this system is that applicants will obtain more reliable and accurate search reports because the applicant will be receiving two different patent offices’ determinations.