China-Bahrain PPH Pilot Program launched on May 1, 2024

According to the Memorandum of Understanding between the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of Bahrain on the Patent Examination Highway Project, the China-Bahrain (Lin) Patent Examination Highway (PPH) Pilot Project has been officially launched on 1 May 2024 for a period of five years until 30 April 2029.

After the launch of the PPH Pilot Project, applicants may file PPH requests with the CNIPA in accordance with the "Procedure for Filing PPH Requests with the China National Intellectual Property Office (CNIPA) under the PPH Pilot Project"; and with the MOIC in accordance with the "Procedure for Filing PPH Requests with the Patent Office of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MOIC) of Bahrain's Foreign Trade and Intellectual Property Department under the PPH Pilot Project". 

PPH requests are filed with the MOIC in accordance with the "Procedures for Filing PPH Requests with the Patent Office of the Foreign Trade and Intellectual Property Office of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce of Bahrain (MOIC) under the Patent Examination Highway Pilot Project.

The PPH is a fast-track patent examination lane between different countries or regions, which accelerates the patent examination process through the sharing of work between patent examining organizations. 

Since the launch of the first PPH pilot project in November 2011, the CNIPA has established PPH cooperation with patent examination authorities in 32 countries or regions. 

To access the pdf procedure guides (in Chinese and English) for filing a PPH request to CNIPA and MOIC click here.

Source: 国家知识产权局 通知 中巴（林）专利审查高速路（PPH）试点将于2024年5月1日启动 (cnipa.gov.cn)