Patent Office Improves Accelerated Prosecution Regulation

On May 13, 2026, the Argentine Patent Office (ARPTO) issued Resolution P-142/2026, which streamlines patent prosecution in Argentina. Under this Resolution, the ARPTO will consider that a patent application fulfills the substantive patentability requirements (novelty, non-obviousness, and industrial application) if it has been granted abroad for the same invention (regardless of whether a priority has been claimed or not) by a foreign patent office that carries out substantive examination in a country or region whose Patent Law has the same substantive requirements as the Argentine law.   


Accordingly, the patent will be granted if:

1. the scope of the claims of the Argentine application is the same or narrower than that of the foreign patent,
2. there are no novelty objections based on local prior art,
3. (where no foreign priority has been claimed) the disclosure of the invention has taken place abroad after the filing date in Argentina,
4. the subject matter is not barred from patentability by the Argentine Patent Law,
5. third-party oppositions, if any, have been studied,
6. the foreign office that granted the equivalent patent shares the same patentability standards.

Based on the new amendment, applicants can voluntarily request the application of this regulation at any time, even if examination has started already.  In this case, ARPTO will issue a decision within 60 days after the request is filed.


To apply these resolutions the ARPTO will require:

1. a copy of the foreign patent,
2. a translation of the claims approved in the foreign patent (if in a language other than Spanish or English),
3. that the claims are adapted to those of the granted patent (excluding those claims that are not acceptable according to the Argentine Patent Law) and meet the domestic formal requirements (characterizing clause, single object, one main claim [first] and all remaining claims directly or indirectly subordinated thereto, non-functional language, etc.)

The ARPTO is allowed to suspend the application of these regulations based on sufficient technical and legal reasons or national defense, domestic security, health emergency, or any other reason of public order.

We will be pleased to provide any further comments or clarifications you may require.