BEIJING, July 1 -- China has extended the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program with both Iceland and Egypt, aiming to continue offering efficient and convenient patent examination services to applicants.

The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and its counterparts in Iceland and Egypt have agreed to extend their PPH pilot programs for five years each, from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2029.

PPH is a fast track linking patent examination duties of different countries or regions, allowing patent examination authorities to share their work to speed up patent examination.

Since initiating the first PPH pilot program in November 2011, the CNIPA has built PPH ties with patent examination authorities of 32 countries or regions.

According to the administration, extending the bilateral fast patent grant programs will assist inventors in both countries by expediting the examination of their patent applications and further strengthening international cooperation in the IP field.

Earlier in June, the CNIPA also launched a PPH pilot program with the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization for five years through June 7, 2029.