PDF, PCT Yearly Review - WIPO

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> the USPTO and KIPO;
> the Austrian Patent Office and the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland;
> the Austrian Patent Office and the USPTO;
> the JPO and the National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland;
> the Federal Service on Intellectual Property, Patents & Trademarks of Russia and the USPTO;
> the JPO and the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office; and
> the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office and the USPTO.
Other fast-track procedures. In May 2010, the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office started an
independent fast-track procedure for the accelerated examination of patent applications in the United
Kingdom national phase, called PCT (UK) Fast Track. Under this procedure, patent applicants can, where the
necessary requirements are met, request accelerated examination in the United Kingdom national phase if
their PCT application has received a positive search report or IPRP, regardless of which authority issued it.
Supplementary international search
The National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland (on January 1, 2010), the EPO (on July 1, 2010)
and the Austrian Patent Office (on August 1, 2010) started providing a SIS service that gives PCT applicants
the option of requesting additional language-based searches during the international phase, in addition to
the main ISR established by the ISA. This service is intended to provide a more complete overview of the
prior art in the international phase.
Regional patents
African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) patents. Following the entry into force, on
March 24, 2010, of the Harare Protocol on Patents and Industrial Designs within the framework of ARIPO
with respect to Liberia, any PCT application filed on or after that date includes the designation of that state
for an ARIPO patent as well as for a national patent. Furthermore, as from that date, nationals and residents
of Liberia are able to file PCT applications with ARIPO as RO, in addition to their national RO or the IB.
European patents. An agreement between the EPO and the government of Montenegro on the extension
of European patents to Montenegro, which entered into force on March 1, 2010, provides for the extension
to Montenegro of the protection conferred by European patent applications and patents. The extension
procedure is also available, where the necessary requirements are met, via the PCT.
Albania became bound by the EPC on May 1, 2010, and Serbia became bound by the EPC on October 1,
2010, with the result that any PCT application filed on or after May 1, 2010, in the case of Albania, or on
or after October 1, 2010, in the case of Serbia, includes the designation of those states for a European
patent, in addition to a national patent. Furthermore, as from those dates, nationals and residents of those
states will be able to file PCT applications with the EPO as RO, in addition to their national RO or the IB. As
a consequence of these accessions, the extension agreements between Albania and the EPO and Serbia and
the EPO terminated with effect from the above-mentioned dates.