Philippines becomes International Searching Authority and International Preliminary Examining Authority

On March 6, Kathi Vidal, Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and Rowel S. Barba, Director of the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, signed an agreement to designate the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) as the International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) for international applications filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. The agreement will take effect from the date of signing and will be valid for 8 years.

IPOPHL will serve as the ISA if (1) applications are filed in English, (2) IPOPHL is the receiving office, and (3) IPOPHL does not receive more than 75 international applications from the USPTO in any fiscal quarter. If these three requirements are met and IPOPHL serves as the ISA, IPOPHL will also serve as the IPEA.

Therefore, US patent applicants can now choose USPTO, EPO, KIPO, IP Australia, ILPO, JPO, IPOS, or IPOPHL as ISA or IPEA.