On 6 April 2026, the ASEAN Member States launched the ASEAN Patent Examination Co-operation Plus (ASPEC+) Programme, building on the existing ASPEC programme, which was launched in 2009.
Under the existing ASPEC programme, participating ASEAN Intellectual Property (IP) Offices share search and examination results for corresponding patent applications to reduce duplication in patent examination. Despite these advantages, the programme has seen relatively modest uptake. According to latest statistics published by the ASEAN IP Portal, a total of 1,875 ASPEC requests had been filed across the nine participating IP Offices as of December 2025, with an average pendency of 14.9 months between the filing of an ASPEC request and the First Office Action.
Against this backdrop, the ASEAN Member States introduced ASPEC+ as a new option under the existing ASPEC programme, aiming to strengthen collaboration among participating IP Offices and improve the efficiency and predictability of patent prosecution across ASEAN.
From Sharing Completed Reports to Collaboration During Examination
Under the regular ASPEC programme, cooperation begins only after one participating IP Office has issued a search or examination report, which is then submitted to another participating IP Office as part of an ASPEC request. While this work-sharing mechanism helps reduce duplicated examination efforts, the participating IP Offices do not communicate during the examination process.
Under ASPEC+, applicants no longer need to wait for one participating IP Office to issue a search or examination report before filing an ASPEC+ request. Once an ASPEC+ request is filed, the selected participating IP Offices may collaborate during the examination process by exchanging search and examination expertise, discussing examination issues and, where appropriate, working towards identical or similar examination results. This collaborative approach enables the selected Offices to benefit from each other’s expertise throughout the examination process, while each Office retains full authority to determine patentability under its own national laws and examination practices.
From Faster Examination to a Committed Timeline
Another important enhancement under ASPEC+ is the introduction of a committed examination timeline.
Participating IP Offices aim to issue their First Office Actions within the committed timeline of 10 to 14 months following the completion of formalities, compared with the 14.9-month average reported under the regular ASPEC programme.
From Independent Examination to More Consistent Examination Results
Under the regular ASPEC programme, a participating IP Office may take into account the search and examination results issued by another participating Office. However, those results are not binding. Each Office continues to examine the application independently under its own national laws, examination standards and assessment of patentability. As a result, corresponding patent applications may still receive different examination opinions or even different grant outcomes.
By encouraging closer collaboration among participating IP Offices, ASPEC+ increases the possibility of identical or similar examination results across jurisdictions. Where this is achieved, applicants may prepare coordinated amendments or responses for multiple jurisdictions, reducing prosecution effort, time and costs.
Conclusion
Rather than replacing ASPEC, ASPEC+ builds on an established regional work-sharing programme by introducing collaboration during examination, a committed examination timeline and the possibility of identical or similar examination results, with the aim of making regional patent prosecution more efficient for applicants.
By Dinh Thi Thuy Trang
Patent Department
