The operational phase of the IP5 Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Collaboration Search and Examination (CS&E) pilot concluded on June 30. No new international applications will be accepted into the pilot.
The five largest intellectual property offices in the world launched this pilot on July 1, 2018. It allowed examiners from each office, with different working languages, to collaborate on the search and examination of a single international application. The result was an international search report and written opinion from the chosen international searching authority based on contributions from all participating offices. The pilot will now enter the evaluation phase.
For questions and concerns about the CS&E pilot, contact Deputy Director of the International Patent Legal Administration Michael Neas at 571-272-3289.