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The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) provides a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect inventions internationally. A single filing results in a single search accompanied with a written opinion (and optionally a preliminary examination), after which the examination (if provided by national law) and grant procedures are handled by the relevant national or regional authorities. The PCT does not lead to the grant of an "international patent", which does not exist. A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a person for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or substance (known as an invention) which is new, inventive and useful. ...
In lay terms, an invention is a novel device, material, or technique. ...
As of 1 August 2005, there were 128 Contracting States to the PCT.
History The Patent Cooperation Treaty was signed in Washington on June 19, 1970, and entered into force on January 21, 1978 initially with 18 Contracting States. The first international applications were filed on June 1 1978. The Treaty was subsequently amended in 1979, and modified in 1984 and 2001. Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United...
June 19 is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 195 days remaining. ...
1970 was a common year starting on Thursday. ...
January 21 is the 21st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...
1978 was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ...
June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ...
This page refers to the year 1979. ...
1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
2001: A Space Odyssey. ...
Accession Any Contracting State to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property can become a member of the PCT. The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, signed in Paris, France, on March 20, 1883, is an important and one of the first intellectual property treaties. ...
A majority of the world's countries are signatories to the PCT, including all of the major industrialised countries (except Argentina for instance). As of August 2005, 128 countries were party to the PCT. 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Procedure The main advantages of the PCT procedure, also referred to as the international procedure, are the possibility to delay as much as possible the national or regional procedures, and the respective fees and translation costs, and the unified filing procedure.
Filing The first step of the procedure consists in filing an international (patent) application with a suitable patent office, called the Receiving Office (RO). This application is usually called an international application since it does not result in an international patent nor in a PCT patent (which do not exist). The international application needs to be filed in one language only. At least one applicant (either a physical or legal person) must be a national or resident of a Contracting State to the PCT, otherwise no international filing date is accorded. Classically, person refers to a living human being. ...
A legal entity is a legal construct through which the law allows a group of natural persons to act as if they were an individual for certain purposes. ...
Nationality is, in English usage, a legal relationship existing between a person and a state. ...
A dwelling is a structure in which humans or other animals live. ...
On filing of the international application, all Contracting States are automatically designated12.
Search A search or international search is then made by an authorised International Searching Authority (ISA) to find out the most relevant prior art documents regarding the claimed subject-matter. This results in an International Search Report (ISR) comprising a written opinion3 regarding patentability. The ISR is normally provided by the ISA to the applicant 9 months after filing of the application in the event of a first filing and 16 months after the priority date in the event of a subsequent filing (i.e. claiming the priority of a first filing). In most patent laws, prior art or state of the art is all information that has been disclosed to the public in any form before a given date. ...
Within the context of a national or multilateral body of law, an invention is patentable or, in other words, it satisfies the patentability requirements if it meets the legal conditions to be granted a patent. ...
Publication 18 months after the filing date or the priority date if any, the international application is published by the International Bureau (IB) of WIPO, based at Geneva, Switzerland, in one of the seven "languages of publication": Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Russian and Spanish (Rule 48.3 PCT [1]). The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations, and has as its core objectives the promotion of creative intellectual activity and the facilitation of the transfer of technology related to intellectual property to the developing countries in order to accelerate economic, social...
Geneva (French: Genève) is the second-most populous city in Switzerland located where Lake Geneva (French: Lac Léman, but the Genevois are fond of calling it Lac de Genève) empties into the Rhône River. ...
The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
Optional examination Afterwards, a international preliminary examination may optionally be requested ("demanded"). The "international examination" is achieved by an authorized International Preliminary Examination Authority (IPEA). This results in an International Preliminary Examination Report (IPER). When an examination is demanded, the contracting states for which the examination is demanded are called Elected Offices (under Chapter II), otherwise they are called Designated Offices (under Chapter I).
National and regional phases Finally, at 30 months4 from the filing date of the international application or from the priority date if any, the international phase ends and the international application enters in national or regional phase.
Trivia The millionth international application (or PCT application) was filed at the end of 2004 [2]. 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
References - Cees Mulder, The Cross-Referenced Patent Cooperation Treaty, updated yearly, Helze Publisher [3].
See also The European Patent Organisation (EPO or EPOrg in order to distinguish it from the European Patent Office, which is the main organ of the organisation) is a public international organisation set up by the European Patent Convention. ...
The Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO) is an international organization set up by the Eurasian Patent Convention (EAPC). ...
In law, particularly in common law jurisdictions, intellectual property or IP refers to a legal entitlement which sometimes attaches to the expressed form of an idea, or to some other intangible subject matter. ...
The Patent Law Treaty (PLT) is a patent law multilateral treaty concluded on June 1, 2000 in Geneva, Switzerland, by 53 States and one intergovernmental organization, the European Patent Organisation. ...
As to software patents, there is almost nothing in the Patent Cooperation Treaty that relates to this subject. ...
The Substantive Patent Law Treaty (SPLT) is a proposed international patent law treaty aimed at harmonizing substantive points of patent law. ...
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations, and has as its core objectives the promotion of creative intellectual activity and the facilitation of the transfer of technology related to intellectual property to the developing countries in order to accelerate economic, social...
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Notes - Note 1: Applicable as from January 1, 2004.
- Note 2: Germany, the Republic of Korea and the Russian Federation can be excluded from this all-inclusive designation.
- Note 3: The written opinion is only established by the International Searching Authority (ISA) for international applications filed on or after January 1, 2004.
- Note 4: The 30-month time limit to enter the national phase is not applicable to all countries. A small number of countries still request the entering of the national phase under Chapter I (i.e. if the preliminary examination is not demanded or not demanded in time) at 20 months.
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