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WASHINGTON – The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) today announced the launch of the Parallel Patent Grant (PPG) initiative. Under this new worksharing arrangement, IMPI will expedite the grant of a Mexican patent for businesses and individuals already granted a corresponding U.S. patent.
“The PPG is a revolutionary development in our global worksharing cooperation and, more importantly, in our economic and trade relationship with Mexico,” said Andrei Iancu, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO. “This new partnership is the culmination of years of bilateral cooperation between our offices and opens doors to increased innovation, as well as further improvements in the international patent system.”
Juan Lozano, Director General of IMPI, said, “This groundbreaking agreement sends a positive message to the world about collaboration between countries and its relevance to propel patents and innovation, key motors of development. On one hand, the IMPI may be faster in granting patents that the USPTO already considered relevant, and at the same time, examiners may focus on reviewing patent applications from Mexican creators. The USPTO-IMPI cooperation is especially relevant to US stakeholders that have investments in Mexico to accelerate their patent protection.”
The launch of the PPG follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on Technical and Strategic Collaboration by the USPTO and IMPI on January 28, 2020, attended by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Mexican Secretary of Economy Graciela Márquez Colín, USPTO Director Iancu, and IMPI Director General Lozano. Its implementation will accelerate the patent examination process for the large number of commonly filed applications at USPTO and IMPI.
The USPTO and IMPI have a long history of worksharing cooperation. These include a more traditional form of bilateral cooperation, the Patent Prosecution Highway, which has been in effect since 2011.
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