Ghana’s intellectual property office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) signed a statement of intent on 9 July 2026 for an Accelerated Patent Grant (APG) arrangement. Once it is running, an applicant that already holds a granted US patent will be able to ask Ghana to grant the corresponding Ghanaian application, relying on the USPTO’s examination. It is the USPTO’s first APG with an African country. It matters to any company with a US patent family, including European and Latin American groups, that wants protection in Ghana and is weighing the faster routes now open in Africa.
Key takeaways
- The Accelerated Patent Grant with Ghana was signed in Geneva on 9 July 2026 and will run for five years from signature.
- It covers Ghanaian national applications that correspond to a granted US patent; implementing guidelines are still to be published by the Ghanaian office.
- Ghana is the USPTO’s tenth APG partner; Mexico, Panama, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Guatemala already have one.
- Other fast routes in Africa include ARIPO’s participation in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway since 6 January 2026 and EPO validation in Morocco and Tunisia.
What did Ghana and the USPTO sign?
According to the USPTO press release of 17 July 2026, USPTO Director John A. Squires and Ghana’s Registrar-General, Grace Issahaque, signed the statement of intent on 9 July in Geneva, on the margins of the WIPO Assemblies. Ghana’s patent office sits within the Registrar-General’s Department of the Ministry of Justice (GHIPO).
- Scope: an applicant granted a US patent may request that GHIPO grant a patent on a corresponding Ghanaian application pending before it.
- Duration: five years from the date of signing.
- Status: GHIPO will publish guidelines on eligibility and procedure; until then, the request process is not defined.
- Context: the USPTO notes, citing WIPO, that 33% of foreign patent applications in Ghana in 2024 came from US-based filers.
How does an Accelerated Patent Grant work?
The USPTO’s patent worksharing page describes the APG as an applicant-driven arrangement. The partner office grants its national patent without carrying out its own substantive examination, relying instead on the USPTO’s search and patentability analysis. It still checks that the grant complies with national law, for example on what subject matter can be patented. This differs from a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), where the second office still examines the application, only faster.
The USPTO’s earlier APG partners show how the model has spread, largely across Latin America:
| Partner office | APG in place since |
|---|---|
| Cambodia | October 2020 |
| Panama | February 2023 |
| Mexico | August 2023 |
| Dominican Republic | April 2024 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | July 2024 |
| El Salvador | August 2024 |
| Belize, Guatemala, United Arab Emirates | July 2025 |
| Ghana | Statement of intent signed 9 July 2026 |
Accelerated Patent Grant in Ghana compared with other African routes
| Route | Territory | What it builds on |
|---|---|---|
| APG Ghana | Ghana (national patent) | A granted US patent; guidelines pending |
| ARIPO with Global PPH | Any of the 21 Harare Protocol states designated, Ghana included | Allowable claims from an earlier examining office in the Global PPH network, including PCT work products |
| OAPI | 17 member states in West and Central Africa and the Indian Ocean, with a single title | The centralised procedure under the Bangui Agreement |
| EPO validation | Morocco and Tunisia; Angola signed on 23 June 2026, not yet in force | A European patent application or patent |
ARIPO announced that it joined the Global PPH pilot with effect from 6 January 2026. Requests need corresponding claims, a shared earliest date and the earlier office’s work products. OAPI grants one title for its 17 member states, and the EPO’s validation agreements extend European patents to Morocco and Tunisia.
What this means for your business
- If your family includes a granted US patent and Ghana matters commercially, keep a Ghanaian national application pending so you can use the APG once GHIPO publishes the procedure.
- Check how you enter Ghana. The APG refers to an application pending before GHIPO; whether an ARIPO application designating Ghana qualifies will depend on the guidelines.
- Align claims. Accelerated routes reward claims that match the granted or allowed claims elsewhere.
- For wider African coverage, compare ARIPO with the Global PPH, OAPI and EPO validation, using whichever earlier examination you already have.
If you need this mapped across your portfolio, our patent team for Africa and Latin America filings can identify which families qualify for each fast-track route.
When to bring in an adviser
- Choosing the wrong vehicle. Filing only through ARIPO may close the door to the APG if the guidelines require a national application.
- Missing entry deadlines. Fast-track routes do not extend the priority year or the PCT national phase deadline.
- Assuming automatic grant. GHIPO will still apply Ghanaian law on what can be patented.
- Uncoordinated families. When the US, European and African prosecution run separately, claim sets drift and lose eligibility for worksharing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Ghana–USPTO Accelerated Patent Grant?
It is a worksharing arrangement under a statement of intent signed on 9 July 2026. An applicant who holds a granted US patent will be able to ask Ghana’s IP office to grant a corresponding Ghanaian application on the basis of the USPTO’s examination, without a full examination in Ghana. It runs for five years from signature.
Can I use the APG in Ghana now?
Not in practice yet. According to the USPTO, the Ghanaian office will publish guidelines on how the programme works and how US patent holders can take part. Until then, the sensible step is to keep a corresponding Ghanaian application pending and claims aligned with the US patent.
Is there a fast track for Africa if I do not have a US patent?
Yes. ARIPO has taken part in the Global Patent Prosecution Highway since 6 January 2026, so allowable claims from another participating office can speed up examination for the Harare Protocol states. European patents can also be validated in Morocco and Tunisia, and OAPI offers a single title for 17 states.
Can IP Global Guard file in Ghana and other African countries for my company?
Yes. We design the African filing strategy and coordinate qualified local correspondents before GHIPO, ARIPO, OAPI and other national offices, alongside your US and European families. Clients from Europe and Latin America get one point of contact for the whole route.
How IP Global Guard can help you reach African markets faster
The Ghana APG adds a fast option to a map that already includes ARIPO, OAPI and EPO validation. Picking the right one depends on the patents you already hold. IP Global Guard, the IP services line of META Channel Corporation Limited, coordinates patent protection across more than 25 jurisdictions in Europe, Latin America and Africa from a single point of contact; see our coverage in Africa and the rest of the corridor.
Send us your patent families with their US and European status and the African markets you care about. We will tell you which fast-track route fits each one. Contact our patent team.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and reflects the position at its publication date.
Sources
- USPTO, USPTO and Ghana sign historic statement of intent for Accelerated Patent Grant arrangement (17 July 2026)
- USPTO, Patent worksharing: Accelerated Patent Grant partners
- ARIPO, ARIPO joins the Global Patent Prosecution Highway pilot program (12 March 2026)
- ARIPO, Patents and the Harare Protocol
- OAPI, Organisation Africaine de la Propriété Intellectuelle
- EPO, Validation states
