The IPO has launched the fast-track scheme, which will speed up the process of getting UK approval for a patent application that has already been examined in an international preliminary assessment.
The Government has claimed that the scheme will aid inventors to reach the commercialisation phase of their ideas more quickly.
"The new fast-track procedure will make it quicker for business to turn innovation and ideas into products and jobs," said intellectual property minister Baroness Wilcox. "It is essential that businesses can take ideas from the drawing board to the market as quickly as possible. Securing a patent is an integral part of that process."
The fast-track will operate only as part of the international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), a 142-country deal to reduce the duplication of effort when one someone wants to patent an invention in many countries.
Under the PCT an initial examination is made and the application is then passed for further examination to individual countries.
It is the UK's individual examination which will be speeded up under the IPO's new proposal.
"Applicants requesting the fast-track service will receive an examination report within two months. Under current timescales this could take more than 18 months," said an IPO statement. "The examination report will either approve the application or detail any changes needed before a UK patent can be granted. Any substantial issues will have been addressed in the international phase."
The IPO said that it hoped the scheme would tackle what it said was a worldwide backlog of patent applications.
"Innovation is one of the main driving forces for Britain’s economic recovery," said Baroness Wilcox. "Delays in dealing with patent applications prevent firms from expanding and creating new jobs. Britain is leading the way in identifying and dealing with the patent backlog. I hope other countries will establish similar fast-track schemes to tackle this problem."
The IPO said that it hoped to meet its "target" of examining fast-tracked patents within two months in 90% of cases. It said that applicants needed no justification to apply for fast-tracking, indicating merely that they want it to be part of the scheme.
