The National Intellectual Property Administration of China and the Eurasian Patent Office have jointly decided to extend the China-Eurasia Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot project indefinitely from April 1, 2023.

The extended China-Eurasia PPH pilot project will add the PCT-PPH cooperation mode on top of the existing regular PPH cooperation. This means that applicants from both sides can use the work results from the PCT international stage to submit PPH requests to the two offices. The updated China-Eurasia PPH guidelines should be consulted for the requirements and procedures for participating in this pilot project.

PPH is a patent fast-track examination channel between different countries or regions, which speeds up the patent examination process by sharing work among patent examination agencies. Since the launch of the first PPH pilot project in November 2011, the National Intellectual Property Administration of China has established PPH cooperation with patent examination agencies in 30 countries or regions.

The Eurasian Patent Office covers several countries in the Eurasian region, and once a Eurasian patent is granted, it takes effect in its contracting states from the date of publication. The extension of the China-Eurasia PPH pilot project will further promote intellectual property cooperation among countries and regions along the Belt and Road, and serve to accelerate the patent examination process for innovation entities in China and Eurasia.