Are two heads, or in this case, two patent offices, better than one for examination? The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) launched two pilot programs to determine just that, i.e., whether collaborative search and its evaluation in commonly filed claims can improve the examination process and result in more consistent results across patent offices. Here, the USPTO will collaborate with the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), collectively called the Collaborative Search Pilot Program (CSP). The pilots began on August 1, 2015, for the JPO and September 1, 2015, for the KIPO. Each pilot will run for two years with an option to extend.
