Expediting Your Patent Application in Indonesia: The DGIP–JPO Patent Prosecution Highway

Patent, Intellectual Property

In the race for innovation, speed is everything. According to statistical data published by the Japan Patent Office (JPO), among the ASEAN6 Patent Offices (the six ASEAN countries with the highest Patent rankings), the Directorate General of Intellectual Property of Indonesia (DGIP) is recorded as the office with the shortest total pendency—meaning the duration from filing to grant—at only around 3.4 years. In contrast, other ASEAN Patent Offices generally remain in the range of 4.5 to 7 years. This figure aligns with Indonesia’s ongoing efforts to accelerate examination, including through the utilization of the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) scheme.   What is even more interesting is that, as the only office implementing PPH with all ASEAN6 Patent Offices, the JPO serves as a strategic gateway for Applicants seeking protection across the ASEAN region. The JPO reports the following statistics: The time to obtain a patent grant in Japan through the fast-track route can be achieved in approximately 4.9 months; and Patent grants in ASEAN Offices through the PPH scheme can be achieved in around 1 year, with grant rates exceeding 90%.     In addition to illustrating examination performance, JPO’s data also shows that the PPH route with DGIP as the Office of Later Examination (OLE) has been actively utilized by international Applicants. Since the program’s initiation in 2013, the number of PPH requests designating DGIP as the OLE has consistently remained in the hundreds per year, reaching a peak in 2019. Although the numbers later declined, they have re-emerged significantly in 2024. This indicates that the DGIP–JPO PPH scheme is not merely a procedural option on paper, but a pathway genuinely used by global businesses when entering the Indonesian and ASEAN markets.   Given this background and the fact that DGIP records the fastest total pendency among the ASEAN6, Applicants can structure the following two-step strategy: Designate Japan as the primary examination hub, either as the first filing country or as the International Searching Authority (ISA/JP) under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT); and Utilize the PPH scheme for accelerated access to ASEAN, with Indonesia as a key destination given its comparatively shorter time to grant.   This combination creates a highly compelling narrative for businesses and technology owners. The JPO provides fast and high-quality examination at the “upstream” stage, while DGIP offers one of the fastest routes to grant in the “downstream” ASEAN region. For companies that view ASEAN as a growth market, this combination can significantly reduce risks and shorten timelines in the patent application process.   Number of PPH requests with DGIP as the Office of Later Examination (OLE) per PPH application year. Source: Japan Patent Office (JPO), “PPH Statistics.”   How Does the DGIP–JPO PPH Actually Work?   In simple terms, the PPH is a cooperative framework between Patent Offices that allows one Office to rely on the search and examination results produced by another. In essence, patent examination under the PPH can be accelerated at DGIP by leveraging the examination work products issued by the JPO.   Institutionally, the DGIP–JPO PPH scheme did not emerge overnight. The trial phase of the DGIP–JPO PPH program was first launched in 2013 as an effort to test the use of JPO examination results to expedite the process in Indonesia. As utilization increased and positive responses were received from Applicants, the cooperation was extended multiple times. Under the latest agreement, the DGIP–JPO PPH program has been renewed once again and will continue until 2026. These periodic extensions indicate that the PPH is considered successful by both Offices—reducing examination burdens on one side while providing a stable acceleration route for Applicants on the other.   According to DGIP’s official guidelines, the DGIP–JPO PPH scheme is divided into two categories:   1. PPH Based on JPO National Work Products Under this scheme, a PPH request is filed for a patent application that has already entered DGIP, by referring to its corresponding application at the JPO. The main requirements for filing a PPH request under this scheme include: The application at DGIP and the corresponding application at the JPO that forms the basis of the PPH must share the same earliest date (whether a priority date or filing date), either through the Paris Route or the PCT Route. The earliest application in the patent family must have been filed at either DGIP or the JPO as a national office. At least one JPO application must have claims that have been determined to be patentable/allowable, as reflected in a Decision to Grant, Notification of Reasons for Refusal, Decision of Refusal, or Appeal Decision. All claims submitted for examination under the PPH at DGIP must “sufficiently correspond” to the claims considered patentable/allowable at the JPO—that is, the claim scope must be identical, similar, or narrower through the addition of limiting features supported by the specification. A PPH request can only be made if DGIP has not yet begun substantive examination of the application.   2. PCT-PPH Based on PCT International Work Products (WO/ISA, WO/IPEA, IPER) In this scheme, in addition to national work products, the guidelines also provide for PCT-PPH. Here, the basis for acceleration is no longer the JPO’s national office actions but the JPO’s international work products in its capacity as: WO/ISA – Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority WO/IPEA – Written Opinion of the International Preliminary Examining Authority IPER – International Preliminary Examination Report   The main requirements include: The latest International Work Product must indicate that at least one claim is patentable/allowable with respect to novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability. The DGIP application and the corresponding PCT international application must share the same earliest date (whether through national phase entry, priority basis, or as a derivative/divisional). All claims filed at DGIP must “sufficiently correspond” to the claims considered patentable/allowable in the relevant International Work Product.   PPH MOTTAINAI Beyond the two main pathways above, the JPO has also introduced the concept of PPH MOTTAINAI. In simple terms, “mottainai” in Japanese conveys a sense of regret when something…

3 Top Ways to Accelerate Your Patent Application Process in Indonesia

Intellectual Property

The Directorate General of Intellectual Property of the Republic of Indonesia under the Ministry of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia (hereinafter referred to as “DGIP”) has established various procedures under which the examination of a patent application may be accelerated. Under these procedures, DGIP will advance an application out of turn for faster examination if the applicant files the following special requests through the ASPEC program, Indonesia-Japan PPH  program, or simply by providing the examiner in charge the granted corresponding claims from other Patent Offices, such as the USPTO, JPO, EPO, and others. We herewith summarize the options that may suit your need, depending on where you file your patent applications in other jurisdictions: 1. ASPEC The ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation ( hereinafter referred to as “ASPEC”) was launched on 15 June 2009 and it is the first regional patent work-sharing program which involves nine participating ASEAN Member States (AMS) IP Offices of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The program aims to accelerate the patent examination process by encouraging each of the participating Patent Offices to share search and examination results to allow applicants in the participating countries to obtain corresponding patents faster and more efficiently. Since ASPEC aims to reduce duplication on the search and examination work done, it is hoped that the search and examination work done on a corresponding application can be used as a useful reference in producing high-quality examination reports. Hence, if you can obtain the examination result from other countries in the participating Patent Offices, then the examination results or reports can be used as the basis of examination acceleration, as long as the corresponding claims are the same. When requesting ASPEC, the patent applicant is required to submit an ASPEC Request Form in the second Patent Office. The ASPEC Request Form shall be accompanied by the following documents: 1. a copy of the Search and Examination (S&E) report or the Examination report (“minimum documents”) of a corresponding application from the first IP Office; and 2. a copy of the claims referred to in the minimum documents submitted, with at least one claim determined by the first IP Office to be allowable/patentable. For PCT ASPEC request, the patent applicant is required to indicate that the request is for PCT ASPEC in the ASPEC form. The completed ASPEC request form shall be submitted together with the following documents: 1. a copy of the written opinion/international preliminary examination report (“WO/ISA, WO/IPEA or IPER”) established by an ASEAN International Searching Authority/International Preliminary Examining Authority (ASEAN ISA/IPEA) (“minimum documents”) relating to a corresponding application from the first IP Office; and 2. a copy of the claims referred to in the minimum documents submitted, with at least one claim determined by the first IP Office to be allowable/patentable. Please be mindful that the request to utilize ASPEC can only be done after the application has finished the publication stage. Based on our experience, the time it takes from filing the ASPEC request until the issuance of the decision to grant will not be more than 12 months – a great improvement in lead or pendency times compared to the processing time for non-ASPEC (or PPH) patent applications in Indonesia.   2. Japan-Indonesia Patent Prosecution Highway (Indonesia-Japan PPH) The Japan Patent Office (hereinafter referred to as the “JPO”) and the DGIP have initiated a Patent Prosecution Highway Program (hereinafter referred to as the “PPH”) back on June 1, 2013, and since then, the PPH has been chosen by many applicants who have previously filed their base applications in Japan as the method of accelerating the patent applications in Indonesia. The PPH request can be filed at any time as long as it is before the deadline to request the substantive examination stage. Please also be mindful that there will be an official fee of Rp 5.000.000,00 incurred for requesting the PPH acceleration program. When it comes to the requirements, the DGIP will require the applicant to provide the following documents in order to start the accelerate examination process: All formality documents required to file the application have been submitted and the DGIP will issue the notice of formality documents completion, which should also be provided by the applicant; Proof of payment to file a substantive examination request; The application should have passed the Publication of Period of 6 months; PPH Form (filled in); Corresponding claims  which should be equivalent or less compared to the claims granted by the JPO; OEE ad OLE examination results; and OEE/OLE in English and/or in Bahasa Indonesia. Based on our experience, the time it takes from filing the ASPEC request until the issuance of the decision to grant will not be more than 7 to 12 months – a great improvement in lead or pendency times compared to the processing time for non-ASPEC (or PPH) patent applications in Indonesia. 3. Providing Corresponding Registered Claims In case none of the options above apply to you, you mal also provide the examiners at the DGIP with the corresponding granted claims from other well-established Patent Offices, such as the USPTO, UKIP, EP, AUIPO, SIPO, JPO, etc. The provision of the corresponding granted claims from the aforementioned Patent Offices will make it easier for the examiners at the DGIP to expedite the examination. Please note that the documents should be provided with equivalent English translation. For any questions related to patent application in Indonesia, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].