USPTO and Dominican Republic reach agreement to accelerate patent licensing

Recently, the USPTO and the National Office of Industrial Property of the Dominican Republic (ONAPI) signed a joint statement to implement an Accelerated Patent Grant (APG) program that will allow eligible patent applicants to obtain a patent in the Dominican Republic using an accelerated process based on the issuance of a U.S. patent.

Under the APG program, patent applicants who have been granted patents by the USPTO can request accelerated examination at any time after the ONAPI publishes the application to obtain Dominican patent rights more quickly. The APG program will take effect within 30 days after the signing of the agreement and will last for five years.