Indecopi awards first invention patent under PPH

By Francisco Espinosa Reboa

The National Institute for Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (Indecopi) of Peru granted the first patent invention to a foreign company through the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), a system which Peru joined with the Pacific Alliance countries.

On December 29, 2016, Chilean TCPavements Ltda. became the first foreign company to apply for the PPH in Peru. TCPavements was granted a patent invention by the National Institute of Industrial Property (Inapi) of Chile for a revolutionary design and construction of concrete pavement. With the examination process already done by Inapi, in March 2017 the patent was admitted to the PPH and granted by Indecopi.
 
PPH speeds up the examination process for patent applications filed in participating intellectual property offices. When an applicant receives a final ruling from a first patent office that at least one claim is allowed, the applicant may request fast track examination of corresponding claim(s) in a corresponding patent application in a second patent office.