Common forum of the five largest intellectual property offices

The five largest intellectual property offices (IP5) set up a forum to improve the efficiency of the examination process for patents worldwide.

The vision of the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), the State Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China (SIPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is global co-operation, which has been defined as "the elimination of unnecessary duplication of work among the IP5 Offices, the enhancement of patent examination efficiency and quality and guarantee of the stability of patent right".  

The IP5 Offices account for 90% of all patent applications filed worldwide and for 93% of all work carried out under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

The offices agreed on the large benefits of worksharing. It was estimated that the number of applications, where work from one office which could be reutilised by another office currently stands at up to 250 000 per year. An enhanced work-sharing among the five offices could contribute to significant increase in examination capacity.

www.fiveipoffices.org