PCT
PATENT COOPERATION
TREATY
By: Nico Reyes & Keziah Tan
What is a patent?
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A patent is a legal right to keep
others from making, using or selling
an invention. This legal right is
granted by a government for a
limited period of time.
http://www.ladas.com/Patents/patpers.html
TYPES OF PATENT
APPLICATIONS
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Patents of Inventions
Design Patents
Utility Model Patents
Overview
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The Patent Cooperation Treaty
(PCT) is an international patent law
treaty. It provides a unified
procedure for filing patent
applications to protect inventions in
each of its Contracting States
A patent application filed under the
PCT is called an international
application or PCT application.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_Cooperation_Treaty
Overview
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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.
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Patent-Cooperation-Treaty
History
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Done at Washington on
June 19, 1970 with 18 initial
contracting states
Entered into force on January 21,
1978
Amended on September 28, 1979
Modified on February 3, 1984, and
October 3, 2001
http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/texts/articles/atoc.htm
AIMS (taken from preamble)
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To make a contribution to the progress of science
and technology,
To perfect the legal protection of inventions,
To simplify and render more economical the
obtaining of protection for inventions where
protection is sought in several countries,
TO facilitate and accelerate access by the public
to the technical information contained in
documents describing new inventions,
To foster and accelerate the economic
development of developing countries*
Membership
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Any contracting state to the Paris
Convention can become a member.
As of April 3, 2008, there were 139
Contracting States to the PCT.
Most of the world’s industrialized
countries are part of this treaty. *
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Patent-Cooperation-Treaty
Advantages
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An international applicant is given
the possibility to delay as much as
possible the national or regional
procedures.
Respective fees and translation costs
are lessened.
It is a unified filing procedure.
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Patent-Cooperation-Treaty
THE APPLICATION
PROCESS
Step 1 - Filing
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Done in a Receiving Office (RO)*
Application needs to be filed in one
language only *
At least one applicant must be a national
or resident of a member state of the PCT
Applicants from any contracting state may
file an international patent application at
the International Bureau in Geneva
Step 2 - Search
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An international search is made by the
Searching Authority (ISA).
Results are released in an
International Search Report (ISR),
usually 9 months after the filing of the
application. The report includes the
patentability of the invention.
Step 3 - Publication
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Done 18 months after filing date
Published in one of the eight
"languages of publication":
Arabic, Chinese, English, French,
German, Japanese, Russian, and
Spanish. *
Step 4 – Optional Examination
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An international preliminary
examination may optionally be
demanded
Done by an authorized International
Preliminary Examination Authority
(IPEA), resulting to an International
Preliminary Examining Report (IPER).
Step 5 – National & Regional
Phase
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Occurs 30 months from the filing date of
the international application or from the
earliest priority date of the application if a
priority is claimed
Certain national laws may fix time limits,
which expire earlier than 30 months. *
If the entry into national or regional phase
is not performed within the prescribed
time limit, the international application
generally ceases to have the effect of a
national or regional application.
PCT and The Philippines
Philippine Rules on Philippine
Applications:
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http://ipophil.gov.ph/page_details.as
p?sr=64