United States Patent and Trademark Office – 1 Strategic Handling of Applications for Rapid Examination (SHARE) United States Patent and Trademark Office

2 Background 2006 Cross filing Applications among IP5 Offices

3 Background The concept of SHARE arose out of the discussions among the Trilateral Offices. A 2004 study conducted by the Trilateral Offices showed, most notably, that for USPTO-JPO/JPO-USPTO cross-filings, USPTO produced first action results prior to JPO first action in about 90% of cases, whereas the JPO produced first action results prior to USPTO first action in only about 10% of cases. The study revealed that the timing of the availability of OFF search and examination results relative to OSF pendency is far from optimal, which posed a major obstacle to work-sharing. Given the high volume of JPO-USPTO filings, this disparity represented a significant loss to the USPTO in potential efficiency gains. Subsequent work has been undertaken to improve the situation.

4 In SHARE, applications for which an office is the office of first filing (OFF) are prioritized in the examination queue. SHARE is expected to enhance the worksharing environment by increasing the volume of exploitable work product from the office of first filing (OFF). Improving the Worksharing Environment: SHARE

5 SHARE BENEFITS Increase examination effectiveness Office of second filing can reuse OFF work product to the maximum extent practicable –Decrease overall pendency –Improve quality –Reduce redundant work

6 Relationship with other Worksharing Mechanisms SHARE and PPH are complementary. –Accelerate the examination in the office of first filing –More OFF work product becomes available for PPH in the office of second filing (OSF)

7 POSSIBLE ISSUES Effect on non-prioritized applications, e.g. –Patent Term Adjustment? –De Facto Deferred Examination? Forum Shopping?

8 KIPO-USPTO SHARE Pilot KIPO-USPTO Pilot –Initiated September 1, 2009 –400 cases –Selected in narrow technology (battery, fuel cells and semiconductors) –Manual prioritization and notification of work product availability to the offices

9 Status of other offices The EPO’s PACE program sets internal deadlines for work product for EP direct filings. The JPO’s JP-FIRST started in April More information is available at texts/html/guiapp1/e/ga_aii.htm. and texts/html/guiapp1/e/ga_aii.htm

10 USPTO SHARE Strategy Work groups have been created to develop a roadmap for 2010 implementation Policy/Legal Examination/Operations Information Technology

11 Thank you.