The Patent Prosecution Highway in Conjunction with the Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property (OMPIC)
Under this pilot program of the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), an applicant who receives a positive ruling on a patent claim(s) from either the Moroccan Office of Industrial and Commercial Property (OMPIC) or the USPTO may request accelerated prosecution of corresponding claim(s) in the other office. The PPH allows the applicant to obtain a patentability decision in the office of later examination (OLE) more quickly. Furthermore, the PPH promotes patent application processing efficiency by allowing the examiner in the OLE to reuse the search and examination results from the office of earlier examination, thereby reducing workload and duplication of effort.
As of May 25, 2010, the USPTO has eliminated the fee for the petition to make special under the PPH programs.
The trial period for the current PPH pilot program between the USPTO and the OMPIC commenced on April 1, 2023, and will continue until terminated by either office. PPH requests based on OMPIC work product will be treated as timely, unless a notice of termination is published earlier, and a request is filed subsequent to the termination date announced in the notice.
Memorandum of Understanding
Patent Prosecution Highway Requests to USPTO
Fillable Form SB/20MA (Patent Prosecution Highway Request Form) [PDF]
Patent Prosecution Highway Requests to the OMPIC
Information on making a request at the OMPIC
Inquiries
For any inquiries regarding filing a PPH request at the USPTO, please contact the Office of Petitions at PPHfeedback@uspto.gov.
For any inquiries regarding filing a PPH request at the OMPIC, please contact Minna Moezie at minna.moezie@uspto.gov.