The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international treaty that simplifies the procedure for filing a patent application in multiple countries.
Why is filing a patent application in multiple countries complicated without the PCT?
Each Patent Office in a foreign country has its own rules and preferences as to how a patent application should be filed. They may require certain sections of the patent application to be placed into different formats. They may require that the patent application include certain sections which are not required in other countries. The bottom line is that each country is different. Keeping track of all of the differences would be difficult to do.
To file in multiple countries, the patent application has to be modified to fit the requirements of that country. A local attorney would have to reformat the application to fit the requirements of its country. Those modifications would cost money and time for each country.
How is filing a patent application in multiple countries simplified with the PCT?
With the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), applicants wouldn’t have to keep track of the differences in filing requirements between countries.
Under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, more than 150 countries around the world have agreed to follow the same filing requirements. In this way, a single version of a patent application can be filed in any of the contracting states of the Patent Cooperation Treaty without having to modify that patent application to fit the unique or specific requirements of that country.
What is the streamlined process of filing multiple patent applications under the PCT?
Typically, a patent application is first filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patent application can be a provisional patent application or a nonprovisional application. Either way, within 12 months of filing the patent application, a corresponding PCT application must be filed. To do so, the U.S. patent application is reformatted as required under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
After 30 or 31 months of the filing of the U.S. patent application, the PCT application can be filed in more than 150 countries throughout the world without any modification. Using the PCT greatly streamlines the process of filing multiple patent applications in multiple foreign countries. A single version of the patent application, that is the PCT application, can be filed in any of the contracting states of the Patent Cooperation Treaty.
Do you need to file the first patent application with the USPTO?
The patent application does not need to be filed with the USPTO first.
The patent application can be first filed in any Receiving Office of the PCT. Fortunately, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is a receiving office of the PCT. You can check whether your local patent office is a receiving office with this link: What is a PCT Receiving Office?
Is the PCT application examined by the Receiving Office?
The PCT application is examined by the International Search Authority (ISA) which may be different from the Receiving Office.
The ISA will conduct a search and examination of the patent application under the rules governed by the Patent Cooperation Treaty. It’s a way for inventors to find additional prior art and possibly amend the claims to increase the chance of securing a patent when a national stage application is filed later on.
What is the deadline to file the national stage patent application?
After 30 or 31 months of the filing of the PCT application, a national stage application or a nonprovisional application can be filed with the USPTO to secure a patent in the United States. Also, a national stage application can be filed in any of the contracting states of the PCT.
Will the PCT application become a patent?
The PCT application will not result in a granted patent. A national stage application or nonprovisional application for the United States still needs to be filed to obtain a patent. The PCT application just makes the process of filing multiple patent applications in multiple countries more manageable and cost-effective.
Moreover, the PCT application allows inventors to delay the cost associated with filing multiple patent applications in multiple countries for up to 30 months or 31 months depending on the country after the filing of the first patent application.