Accelerated Examination of Patent Applications in France - COVID-19 and PPH

Since December 22, 2015, INPI has established an accelerated authorization pathway to better meet the needs of patent applicants. Patent applications that request accelerated examination will receive a patent certificate within 20 months.

• Submission method: Electronic submission
• Submission time: within 10 months from the application date
• Early publication: It is necessary to submit an early publication request
• The review cannot be expedited if:
  • If the disclosure authorization is not obtained from the Ministry of National Defense within 10 months of submission
  • If the prior art cited in the search report cannot be identified within 10 months after filing the application
  • If the patent application is not standardized
  • If the applicant modifies the application documents or requests an extension of time for reply
  • If there is a third party public opinion
  • If the authorization announcement fee is not paid within 2 months
• Accelerated review categories:
  • COVID-19 related applications: From April 21, 2021, INPI allows applicants to request accelerated issuance of their patent or utility certificate applications related to innovations related to anti-COVID treatments or devices or to COVID diagnostics or treatments within 24 months.
  • PPH request: The PPH (Patent Prosecution Highway) agreement is a cooperation agreement between one or more patent offices, the purpose of which is to speed up the processing of patent applications based on the grant of prior national applications. If there are identical claims or claims with a narrower subject matter scope as in the prior examination office, and at least one claim is patentable, a PPH request can be filed without any official fee.
    • Claims are considered to "sufficiently correspond" when the claims in an application filed with a later examining office are similar in scope or narrower in scope than the claims deemed patentable by the earlier examining office.
    • It can be made when filing a patent application or after filing a patent application, as long as substantive examination has not yet begun.
    • Must be submitted electronically online.
    • INPI has currently signed bilateral PPH agreements with JPO, USPTO, CIPO, INPI Brazil, KIPO, CNIPA, OMPIC, SAIP, IMPI, and IPOS.