In an announcement sent out yesterday by email and which is buried on the PPH page on the ILPTO’s website (as explained yesterday’s post, don’t try finding it on the “announcements” page, which at the moment will take you nowhere), the ILPTO indicated that as of January 6, 2014, it will be participating in a pilot “Global Patent Prosecution Highway” (GPPH) Program, along with the patent offices of Australia*, Canada*, Denmark, Finland*, Hungary, Iceland, Japan*, Korea*, the Nordic Patent Institute*, Norway, Portugal, Russia*, Spain*, Sweden*, the UK and the USA . (PCT search reports from the starred countries in the list can also be used as a basis for a GPPH request). Details of the program can be found here. One piece of good news: both the announcement and the details of the program are provided in English.
There’s a corresponding announcement on the USPTO’s web site, although interestingly that announcement only mentions Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Nordic Patent Institute, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Spain, and the UK.
A question left open is whether searches conducted by the ILPTO acting as PCT ISA will also be useable as a basis for a GPPH request in other participating countries. Presumably the answer is yes, but the ILPTO’s explanation doesn’t say.
The obvious hole in this program is the absence of the EPO, which remains the PCT search authority of choice for English-language filers who want a real search done on their PCT claims and have the money to pay for it. Considering that PCT applicants who file at the Israel receiving office have a choice of only three PCT search authorities – the EPO, the USPTO and the ILPTO – the non-participation of the EPO in this venture is all the more noticeable for those PCT filers.