PPH in Korea: Fast-Track Your Korean Patent with Results You Already Have

If another patent office — or the International Searching Authority in your PCT application — has already found your claims patentable, you can usually put that result to work in Korea. The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) lets you request expedited examination at the Korean IP Office on the strength of that earlier positive result. This guide explains who qualifies, what you need to file, what it costs, and how to plan it together with PCT national phase entry.

What PPH is, in one paragraph

PPH is a work-sharing arrangement between patent offices. When an earlier office has found at least one claim patentable, the later office (here, Korea) will examine the corresponding application out of turn, and its examiner can draw on the earlier search and opinion. In Korea, a PPH request is filed as a request for expedited (priority) examination, so the case moves onto the fast track described in our fast-track examination guide — first examiner action in about 2–5 months instead of roughly 18 months in the normal queue.

Two routes: regular PPH and PCT-PPH

Korea takes part in the IP5 PPH with the USPTO, EPO, JPO and CNIPA, as well as in the Global PPH and a range of bilateral programmes. For PCT-PPH, results from participating ISAs and IPEAs, including the EPO, USPTO, JPO and CNIPA, can be used. The list of partner offices and the status of individual programmes change from time to time, so we confirm the current position for your office before filing.

The four requirements

• ① Same earliest date. The Korean application and the application whose result you rely on must share the same earliest date (priority date or filing date). A Korean national phase entry of the same PCT application meets this automatically.
• ② A positive result. For PCT-PPH, the latest international-phase work product must find the relied-on claims to have novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability. If Box VIII (observations such as clarity) contains remarks, you must explain why the Korean claims are not affected. Where the international search or examination was carried out by CNIPA, Box VIII must be empty.
• ③ Claim correspondence. Every claim in the Korean application must correspond to a claim found patentable. That means the same or substantially the same scope, or a narrower scope reached by adding limitations. You may drop claims, but you may not change the claim category (for example from a method to a product).
• ④ A request for examination. Examination must already have been requested, or be requested together with the PPH request. A PPH request is also possible after examination has started.

What you file

There is no separate decision on the request. If everything is in order, the first examiner action simply arrives on the expedited timeline. If something is missing, the office invites a correction, and an uncorrected request is dismissed. Getting the correspondence table right first time is therefore what matters.

What it costs

A PPH request is document-based: no prior-art search and no evidence package are needed, which is why it sits at the lower end of our expedited-examination band. Trimming the Korean claims to those found patentable also lowers the per-claim examination fee.

Planning PPH with PCT national phase entry

For PCT applicants with a positive written opinion, the most efficient plan is usually to file the Korean translation, the request for examination and the PPH request together. Two practical points:

• Translate the claims as they stand. If the Korean claims mirror the PCT claims found patentable, correspondence is straightforward. Claims assessed negatively can be deleted at entry.
• Do not count on the translation extension. Korea allows the translation to be filed up to one month after the 31-month deadline if an extension is requested on entry, but that extension is not available once examination has been requested. Because PPH requires a request for examination, plan the translation so that it is ready by the 31-month date.

If you do not have a positive PCT result, a later allowance at the USPTO, EPO, JPO or another partner office can still support a regular PPH request in Korea afterwards, including after examination has started.

Quick checklist

• Check Box V of the latest WO/ISA, WO/IPEA or IPER: which claims are marked "yes" for all three criteria?
• Check Box VIII: are there any observations?
• Keep every Korean claim the same as, or narrower than, a claim found patentable.
• File the request for examination with (or before) the PPH request.