European Patent Office And Israel Sign Deal To Fast-Track Applications

December 7, 2014 | The European Patent Office (EPO) signed a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program with the Israel Patent Office that will accelerate the treatment of patent applications beginning in 2015. The pilot program will allow for Israeli patent applicants in Europe to fast-track their applications and receive patents more quickly and efficiently. Similar PPH agreements were recently signed with Canada, Mexico and Singapore. “I am very pleased to sign this agreement with the patent office of Israel, another major market for technological innovation,” said EPO President Benoît Battistelli. According to the EPO, in 2013 alone the office received 1,783 patent filings from investors and companies within Israel, with that number significantly increasing in the past year.