Inventors and businesses applying for patent protection at the EPO and the Eurasian Patent Office (EAPO) are now able to benefit from fast-track patent examination at both offices, following the entry into force of the joint Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programme. The PPH also permits each participating patent office to share and re-use existing work results. This follows the signing of an agreement by EPO President Beno?t Battistelli and EAPO President Saule Tlevlessova in April 2017.
The pilot will run for an initial term of three years and applicants whose claims have been found to be patentable by the EPO or EAPO may ask for accelerated processing of their corresponding application at the partner office, while the EPO and EAPO will share existing work results, speeding up the granting process and reducing costs for users.

Source: EPO