On April 14, 2026, the Guangdong Intellectual Property Protection Center released the Notice from Guangdong Provincial Intellectual Property Protection Center on Actively Promoting the Organic Integration of Patent Pre-examination and Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) (广东省知识产权保护中心关于积极推进专利预审与PPH有机衔接的通知). The Notice explicitly links requesting pre-examination of a patent application in Guangdong to enable a quick allowance at the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and then quick examination via the PPH at foreign patent offices. Pre-examination, which is free, can yield a Chinese patent within about 2-3 months from filing. Foreign companies are not eligible to use pre-examination unless they apply in the name of a subsidiary in China. The high influx of Chinese applicants using this route may be why the USPTO is slowing examination of PPH applications.
A translation follows. The original text is available here (Chinese only).
All patent pre-examination filing entities:
To further implement the “Outline for Building a Strong Intellectual Property Nation (2021-2035),” accelerate the construction of a full-chain service system encompassing “rapid pre-examination – PPH acceleration – overseas layout,” and assist innovation entities in our province to efficiently obtain intellectual property rights and steadily expand overseas, in accordance with the relevant regulations of the State Intellectual Property Office regarding the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), the following notice is hereby issued regarding promoting the organic integration of patent pre-examination and PPH, and supporting the rapid overseas intellectual property layout of registered entities:
I. Introduction to PPH
PPH is a collaborative mechanism among patent examination offices to share examination results, aiming to expedite the granting process for applicants’ overseas applications. Specifically, when at least one or more claims in a patent application filed with the Prior Examination Office (OEE) are determined to be grantable, the applicant can request expedited examination from the Later Examination Office (OLE) for the corresponding application.
It should be noted that PPH is not a mechanism for countries to mutually recognize examination results on substantive issues, but merely a mechanism to expedite the examination process for applicants. Each country still needs to conduct substantive examination of specific patent applications in accordance with its own patent law or undergo other examination procedures.
II. Connection between Pre-trial Cases and PPH
Based on the results of national work, after the CNIPA issues a conclusion on whether a case is allowable or patentable, the applicant, based on this conclusion, submits a PPH request to the target office that has signed a PPH cooperation agreement with CNIPA. The applicant may choose the Paris Convention route or the PCT route to access the target office.
III. Submission Method
If any registered entity needs to quickly establish an overseas presence, it can submit a request to the Guangdong Provincial Intellectual Property Protection Center through the “Triple Pre-examination Service,” and the Center will guide the connection between the pre-examination case and the PPH application.
The specific submission path is as follows: Log in to the pre-examination management platform’s pre-examination case submission system, enter the “Self-Submission Documents” sub-module under the “Entity Behavior Management” module, and upload the following materials: “Request Form for Pre-examination Triple Service of Guangdong Intellectual Property Protection Center” (with official seal); relevant supporting documents; pre-examination application documents.
This is to inform you.
