Before making a request for PPH, what must not have occurred?

The process for making a request for the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) requires that the examination of the application must not have begun. This means that before a PPH request is filed, the application should be in a state where it has not undergone any substantive examination by the patent office. The key reason for this requirement is that the PPH operates on the premise that an application will benefit from expedited examination based on the positive examination results from another office. If examination has started, it may complicate the proceedings and potentially undermine the PPH process due to the differing stages of scrutiny applied by different patent offices.

In contrast, an application can be filed, published, or even have allowed claims while still being eligible for a PPH request, as long as the examination has not commenced in the original jurisdiction. This clarity ensures that the PPH can be utilized effectively to streamline the patent process for applicants with favorable prior art searches or decisions from other patent offices.