The Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) has extended its Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot with the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) for a further five years, to 31 August 2031. IPOS has also made its PPH program with France’s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI France) permanent.
What this means for applicants
- Longer runway with China: security through to 2031, and Applicants will no longer be required to have filed their earliest application with either IPOS or CNIPA to use the PPH program – opening the door to cases that didn’t fit the program before.
- One less date to track with France: the program now runs indefinitely, removing the periodic pilot-renewal risk from any filing strategy that leans on it.
- In general, a faster, cheaper route to grant: layered on top, IPOS’ broader PPH improvements – rolling out through 2026 and 2027 – mean an accelerated request today moves faster and costs less than it did a year ago.
Details
China PPH | extended, and more flexible
IPOS’ PPH pilot with CNIPA is now locked in until 31 August 2031. A useful change also sits underneath the extension: Applicants will no longer be required to have filed their earliest application with either IPOS or CNIPA to use the PPH program, which is a restriction that has ruled out otherwise-eligible filings until now.
France PPH | pilot is now permanent
IPOS’ PPH program with INPI France has moved from pilot to permanent status. For applicants coordinating filings across France and Singapore, that removes a recurring question from the strategy – the pathway now remains permanent on an ongoing basis.
The wider PPH advantage, in numbers
Singapore has built a network with six PPH partners, including the IP offices of China, Mexico, Malaysia, the European Patent Office and the Saudi patent office. IPOS is also part of the GPPH pilot program, which has over 25 participating offices including markets such as the United States, Brazil, Japan, Australia and Korea.
IPOS has focused on improvements to service, and these are available to eligible applicants across any of IPOS’ PPH partnerships, including China and France*:
- 94% average grant rate in Singapore
- About 6 to 10 months to first office action for PPH requests filed from 1 July 2026
- Around 70% of patents granted at the first office action
- 30% fee savings on new search and/or examination requests filed alongside a PPH request, from 3 August 2026 to 31 December 2027.
How we can help
If China or France sit inside your filing strategy, this is worth a conversation now – not after your next PPH request goes in.
The earliest-filing-date change alone may open up cases that didn’t qualify before. Reach out to our patents team to work out where these updates change what’s possible for your portfolio.
Source: IPOS, “Patent Prosecution Highway” (updated 31 August 2026), www.ipos.gov.sg.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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