Recently, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) have jointly decided to extend the CNIPA-INPI Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program starting from January 1, 2025. The established Guideline of CNIPA-INPI PPH Request continues to control the pertinent requirements and procedures governing applicants' PPH requests at the two offices.

According to information released by INPI, its PPH program will enter a new phase starting January 1, 2025. The total annual number of PPH applications accepted from all its PPH cooperation partners will increase to 3,200, with no more than 800 applications received per quarter. Additionally, the total annual number of PPH applications accepted under the same International Patent Classification (IPC) Section will increase to 1,000. The restriction previously allowed each applicant to submit only one application per week will be lifted. Since the first quarter of 2025, INPI will not accept PPH applications under IPC classification H04. The accepted technical fields will be reassessed quarterly.

(Source: website of the CNIPA)