The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) between the EPO and Latin America lets an applicant whose claims have been found allowable by one patent office ask another to fast-track examination of the corresponding application. The EPO runs PPH programmes with Brazil (INPI), Chile (INAPI), Colombia (SIC), Mexico (IMPI) and Peru (INDECOPI), and participation at the EPO is free of charge. For companies filing on both sides of the Atlantic, using PPH between Latin America and the EPO is one of the few levers that shortens prosecution without extra official fees in Europe.
Key takeaways
- The EPO has PPH programmes with five Latin American offices: permanent with Colombia, Mexico and Peru, pilots with Brazil (to 30 November 2029) and Chile (to 31 May 2027).
- At the EPO, a PPH request is free, but it must be filed before substantive examination has begun.
- The European claims must have the same earliest date as the Latin American application and correspond to the allowed claims, with the same or narrower scope.
- Each Latin American office sets its own rules for requests based on EPO results; Brazil, for instance, charges an official fee for its collaborative priority examination.
- Planning which office examines first is the real strategic decision.
How does the PPH work at the EPO?
The office that first finds the claims patentable is the Office of Earlier Examination (OEE); the office that reuses that work is the Office of Later Examination (OLE). The EPO’s PPH page stresses that there is no compulsory recognition of the other office’s results: the EPO still examines, but it can do so faster by reusing search reports, written opinions and international preliminary reports.
To request PPH at the EPO, the conditions are:
- The European application has the same earliest date (priority or filing date) as the corresponding application.
- The corresponding application has at least one claim found patentable or allowable.
- All European claims sufficiently correspond to those claims, meaning the same, similar or narrower scope.
- Substantive examination of the European application has not begun when the request is filed.
You file EPO Form 1009, which includes the claims correspondence declaration, plus copies of the latest work product from the other office, the allowable claims and the cited documents, with translations if they are not in an EPO language. Work products may be national office actions or PCT products where the partner office acted as International Searching or Preliminary Examining Authority, as the EPO’s notices for Brazil (OJ EPO 2024, A99) and Chile (OJ EPO 2024, A56) explain. Where the EPO itself was the PCT authority, PPH at the EPO is not available and the EPO points applicants to its PACE accelerated prosecution programme instead.
PPH Latin America EPO: status by office
| Office | Status of the programme with the EPO | Key date | Official Journal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil (INPI) | Extended pilot | 1 December 2024 to 30 November 2029 | OJ EPO 2024, A99 |
| Chile (INAPI) | Pilot | 1 June 2024 to 31 May 2027 | OJ EPO 2024, A56 |
| Colombia (SIC) | Permanent | Indefinite since 1 October 2022 | OJ EPO 2022, A88 |
| Mexico (IMPI) | Permanent | Indefinite period | OJ EPO 2020, A21 |
| Peru (INDECOPI) | Permanent | Indefinite since 2 January 2023 | OJ EPO 2022, A116 |
The EPO may end a pilot early if participation exceeds a manageable level. PCT national-phase deadlines also differ across these offices: 31 months at the EPO and in Colombia, 30 months in Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru, according to WIPO’s time limits table.
Can you use the PPH in both directions?
Yes, but the rules are not symmetrical. The EPO’s conditions above apply when the European application is the one being accelerated. When you want a Latin American office to accelerate on the basis of a European allowance, that office’s own rules apply, and the EPO itself refers applicants to them: its Brazil notice asks applicants to pay particular attention to the restrictions applicable before INPI, and its Chile notice points to INAPI’s own PPH requirements.
Brazil illustrates the difference. INPI offers a “collaborative priority examination” for applications whose subject matter has been found patentable by a partner office, with an official fee of BRL 1,780, reduced to BRL 890 for eligible applicants such as small companies and research institutions, according to its priority examination options page. Free at the EPO does not mean free everywhere.
What this means for your business
- Choose the lead office deliberately. If the EPO is likely to issue a positive result first, it can feed accelerated examination across Latin America; if a Latin American office is faster in your field, it can feed the EPO.
- Keep claim sets aligned from the start. Correspondence is easier when the European and Latin American claims are drafted as one family rather than amended separately.
- Watch the EPO timing. Ask for PPH before the European examining division starts substantive examination, or the window closes.
- Budget for the other direction. Fees, translations and local rules apply at the Latin American office.
- Combine with PCT timing. A positive international search or preliminary report from a partner office acting as PCT authority can already support PPH requests at national-phase entry.
If you want this planned across your European and Latin American filings, our team for European and Latin American patent prosecution can set the sequence and coordinate the requests.
Where applicants lose the PPH advantage
- Filing too late at the EPO. Once substantive examination has begun, the PPH request is no longer admissible.
- Claims that drift apart. Broader European claims than those allowed in Latin America break the correspondence requirement.
- Different earliest dates. A European application that does not share the same priority or filing date with the Latin American one does not qualify.
- Assuming the reverse route is identical. Each Latin American office applies its own conditions, fees and, in some cases, restrictions.
- Letting pilots lapse unnoticed. Brazil’s and Chile’s programmes have end dates; requests depend on the programme being in force.
These issues are easier to manage when one team holds the claim strategy and the calendar for every office in the family.
Frequently asked questions
Which Latin American offices have a PPH with the EPO?
The EPO lists PPH programmes with Brazil’s INPI, Chile’s INAPI, Colombia’s SIC, Mexico’s IMPI and Peru’s INDECOPI. The programmes with Colombia, Mexico and Peru are permanent; the Brazil programme is an extended pilot running to 30 November 2029, and the Chile pilot runs from 1 June 2024 to 31 May 2027.
Does a PPH request cost anything at the EPO?
No. The EPO states that participation in its PPH programmes is free of charge. You still need to file EPO Form 1009 with the other office’s work products, the allowable claims, the cited documents and any translations. Fees may apply when you use a European result to accelerate at a Latin American office.
When is it too late to request the PPH at the EPO?
The request must be filed before substantive examination of the European application has begun. For unpublished applications the examination start date is visible to the applicant in MyFiles; for published ones, in the European Patent Register. Planning the request early, ideally at entry into the European phase, avoids missing the window.
Can IP Global Guard coordinate PPH requests between the EPO and Latin America?
Yes. We design the filing sequence, align the claim sets and coordinate European patent attorneys for the EPO request and qualified local agents for INPI, INAPI, SIC, IMPI and INDECOPI, so each office receives the right work products on time, through a single point of contact.
How IP Global Guard can speed up your Europe and Latin America portfolio
The PPH rewards applicants who plan their families as a whole. IP Global Guard, the IP services line of META Channel Corporation Limited, coordinates patent prosecution across more than 25 jurisdictions in Europe, Latin America and Africa, with one strategy and one billing relationship; see our coverage across the corridor.
Send us your application numbers, the status of each office and your commercial priorities. We will tell you where a PPH request is possible, in which direction it pays off and coordinate the filings. Contact our team to plan your PPH strategy.
This article is general information, not legal advice, and does not replace an assessment of your specific case.
