The Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will improve their Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programs as of January 1, 2022. The JPO will accelerate the PPH examination based on examination results that were examined by the USPTO as follows:

JPO

Average period from filing of the PPH request to the first office action	Within three months
Average period from filing a response to the office action to the subsequent office action	Within three months

The USPTO will also accelerate the PPH based on the JPO’s examination results.

USPTO

Average period from filing a PPH request to the first office action on the merits	Within three months
Average period from filing a response to the first office action on the merits to subsequent office action	Within three months

 

For the detailed information, please refer to the following JPO’s website:
https://www.jpo.go.jp/system/patent/shinsa/soki/pph/document/us_highway_pilot_program/01_en.pdf