WASHINGTON - This week, in Geneva, Switzerland, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) entered into agreements with the governments of Belize, Guatemala, and the United Arab Emirates under which those countries will each grant patents, on an accelerated basis, to applicants that have previously received a US patent and have filed a corresponding application for patent protection in those countries, according to the official website of USPTO. 

“Our accelerated patent grant programs are critical pieces in the USPTO’s international engagement strategy,” added Coke Morgan Stewart, Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting Director of the USPTO.

“We are proud to contribute to President Trump’s agenda and look forward to furthering our cooperation with these important trading partners.”

Accelerated patent grant agreements allow US innovators to obtain patents more quickly and with greater predictability in partner countries, facilitate cooperation between the USPTO and counterpart patent offices, and open up important new investment and business expansion opportunities in foreign markets. Under these programs, when a U.S. patent applicant receives a U.S. patent, the partner office will accelerate its grant of patent rights on a corresponding application based on the USPTO’s grant.