Following a joint decision by the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) and the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ), the CNIPA-IPONZ Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program will commence on 1 November, 2024 for the duration of two years and ending on 31 October, 2026.

After the launch of the PPH pilot program, applicants from both countries can submit PPH requests to either the CNIPA or the IPONZ in line with the procedures established under the program.

PPH is a fast track linking patent examination duties of different countries or regions, allowing patent examination authorities to speed up patent examination by work sharing. Since the initiation of the first PPH program in November 2011, the CNIPA has built PPH ties with patent examination authorities of 33 countries or regions.(Translated from CNIPA Website Chinese Version)