29/05/2025
Most applicants for patents at the UK Intellectual Property Office (the Patent Office) are happy to let the Patent Office examiner determine the speed of examination. In this case examination is usually completed within a few years from the filing date. However, if the applicant needs the examination to move more quickly, there are a number of ways that examination of the application can be accelerated. These are discussed below.
How to Accelerate the Processing of a UK Patent Application
To request that the Patent Office accelerate the examination of an application, it is necessary to write a short letter to the Patent Office and provide a reason for the application receiving special treatment. A number of different approaches are possible. No Patent Office fees are payable for making any of these requests.
(1) The Green Channel – Patent applications that provide an environmental benefit can be accelerated using the UK IPO “Green Channel” programme. If the environmental benefit is not immediately obvious, it might be necessary to briefly explain why the application qualifies for the Green Channel treatment.
(2) PCT Fast Track – It is possible to speed up the examination of applications that have been filed in the UK based on an International (PCT) application, and which have already received a positive indication of patentability in the International phase. The claims of the UK application must correspond with those found allowable in the International phase for the request to be allowed.
(3) The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) – If another patent office has already examined the application and found it allowable, accelerated examination can be requested for the UK. The claims of the UK patent application will need to agree with those allowed by the other patent office, and it may be necessary to file copies of the allowed claims and relevant overseas patent office reports.
(4) Requesting Accelerated Publication, Accelerated Search or Accelerated Examination – the usual time line for the application process can be accelerated, simply by filing a reasoned request for one or more of accelerated publication, accelerated search, or accelerated examination.
Suitable reasons for acceleration may include: being aware of a possible infringer, requiring a granted patent quickly for commercial reasons, or even requiring an early indication of allowability to support a request for Patent Prosecution Highway entry in another country.
Time Periods to Grant
The UK Patent Office will typically take between two and a half years to four and a half years to decide whether to grant or refuse the application. However, the final time scale depends on the number and nature of any objections to the application raised by the Patent Office examiner, as well as the actions of the applicant to try and overcome such objections.
Summary
It is relatively straight forward to speed up a patent application at the UK IPO. However, we will need to know the basis on which the request for accelerated processing is to be made, so that the UK IPO will examine the application more quickly than usual.
Most applications are not accelerated. Letting the patent application proceed at the normal pace may mean that, compared with accelerated cases, the costs of responding to patent office objections are spread out more evenly, and that competitors have a longer period of uncertainty while the application is undergoing examination before a final patent is granted.
If you would like more information about this article, please let us know.
Useful Links
- https://www.gov.uk/guidance/patents-accelerated-processing
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/patents-fast-grant/patents-fast-grant-guidance
This article is for general information only. Its content is not a statement of the law on any subject and does not constitute advice. Please contact Reddie & Grose LLP for advice before taking any action in reliance on it.
