The filing of Form 5-1 under Chapter 5 of the PPH Guidelines commenced from 5th December 2019 as notified on 4th December 2019. After scrutiny of 100 requests received, 56 requests were accepted by IPO and the applicants were allowed to file request for expedited examination on Form 18A.

Thereafter the IPO has twice notified acceptance of Form 5-1 under Chapter 5 of the PPH Guidelines from 9th March 2020 and 10th August for remaining slots. After scrutiny of requests received in response, 39 requests had been accepted by IPO as per the Guidelines and the applicants were allowed to file request for expedited examination on Form 18A.

Since 5 requests slots are still available as per the PPH Guidelines, the IPO will again start accepting Form 5-1 under Chapter 5 of the PPH Guidelines from 2nd November, 2020. Interested applicants are requested to take note.