Electronic Exchange of Priority Documents

The EPO has announced agreements with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Korean Intellectual Property Office to allow the electronic exchange of priority documents. The new agreements are similar to the EPO’s longstanding agreement with the Japanese Patent Office.

Where these agreements apply, applicants and their attorneys no longer need to file certified copies of priority documents at the EPO. Instead, the EPO will obtain priority documents directly from the participating patent offices. This service is free of charge.

Note that these agreements do not apply to PCT applications filed at the United States or Korean receiving offices.

A note of caution is necessary for US-originating applications. When the priority application is a United StatesUSUS priority application or as soon as possible thereafter. If the form has not been timely filed at the USPTO, it will be necessary (as at present) to supply a certified copy of the US application to the EPO. You should therefore advise us, with your European filing instructions, whether Form PTO/SB/39 was timely filed. application, applicants or their attorneys must file Form PTO/SB/39 (“Authorization To Permit Access To Application By Participating Offices”) at the USPTO. The EPO advises that this form should be filed either upon filing the