Patent prosecution highways (PPHs): Their first five years and recent developments seen from Japan Original Research Article

The emergence and current situation regarding PPHs are described, together with the basic features of these systems. Their benefits in terms of speed, quality and cost are discussed. The three options of (i) the numerous bilateral PPH agreements, (ii) the PCT–PPH, and (iii) the Japanese PPH Mottainai are outlined, together with some statistics, especially in relation to the JPO–USPTO agreements.