When do pcts cease to exist

You are entitled to file an international patent application if you are a national or resident of a PCT Contracting State. If there are several applicants named in the international application, only one of them needs to comply with this requirement.

In the vast majority of cases, applicants file PCT applications electronically. You can file PCT applications electronically with any competent receiving Offices which accepts such filings. Moreover, it helps you to manage your applications, for example, with monitoring time limits for relevant actions. You are also entitled to certain PCT fee reductions when filing electronically. More details about PCT electronic filing can be found at www. PCT applicants generally pay three types of fees when they file their international applications:.

Because an international patent application is effective in all PCT Contracting States , you do not incur, at this stage in the procedure, the costs that would arise if you prepared and filed separate applications at national and regional Offices. The fees you will need to pay as you enter the national phase represent the most significant pre-grant costs. They can include fees for translations of your application, national or regional Office filing fees and fees for acquiring the services of local patent agents or attorneys.

In several Offices however, national filing fees are lower for international patent applications than they are for direct national applications in recognition of the work already done during the international phase. You should also remember that in the case of all granted patents, whether or not the PCT is used to obtain them, you will need to pay maintenance fees in each country in order to keep the patents alive.

PCT fee reductions are available to all applicants who file electronically, based on the type of filing and the format of the application submitted see Question 7. If there are several applicants, each must satisfy those criteria.

You have, in most cases, up to an additional 18 months from the time you file your international patent application or usually 30 months from the filing date of the initial patent application of which you claim priority — see Question 11 before you have to begin the national phase procedures with individual patent Offices and to fulfill the national requirements see Question This additional time can be useful for evaluating the chances of obtaining patents and exploiting your invention commercially in the countries in which you plan to pursue patent protection, and for assessing both the technical value of your invention and the continued need for protection in those countries.

Since, in the national phase, each patent Office is responsible for examining your application in accordance with national or regional patent laws, regulations and practices, the time required for the examination and grant of a patent varies across patent Offices. Generally, patent applicants who wish to protect their invention in more than one country usually first file a national or regional patent application with their national or regional patent Office, and within 12 months from the filing date of that first application a time limit set in the Paris Convention , see Question 2 , they file their international application under the PCT.

The effect of claiming the priority of an earlier patent application is that a patent shall not be invalidated by reasons of any acts accomplished in the interval, such as another filing, the publication or sale of the invention. You can file an international patent application in any language which the receiving Office accepts.

If you file your application in a language which is not accepted by the ISA that is to carry out the international search, you will be required to furnish a translation of the application for the purposes of international search. You therefore always have the option of filing your international patent application in at least one language from which no translation is required for either PCT international search or publication purposes.

The availability of a particular ISA to the nationals or residents of a country is determined by the receiving Office where the international application was filed. Some receiving Offices provide a choice of more than one competent ISA. If your receiving Office is one of those, you can choose any one of them, taking into account differing requirements relating to language, fees, etc.. PCT Article 11 specifies the elements required for an international application to be accorded an international filing date.

As provided in PCT Rule 42 and PCT Rule 43bis , the time limit for establishing the international search report or a declaration that no international search report will be established and written opinion is three months from the receipt of the search copy by the International Searching Authority, or nine months from the priority date, whichever time limit expires later.

Under PCT Article 21 , the international publication of the international application by the International Bureau shall be effected promptly after the expiration of 18 months from the priority date of that application.

As provided in PCT Rule 45bis , at any time prior to the expiration of 22 months from the priority date, the applicant can request one or more supplementary international searches each to be carried out by an International Searching Authority other than the International Searching Authority which carries out the main international search. International preliminary examination is optional. A demand for international preliminary examination must be filed prior to the expiration of whichever of the following periods expires later: A three months from the date of transmittal to the applicant of the international search report and the written opinion; or B 22 months from the priority date.

Otherwise the demand shall be considered as if it had not been submitted and the International Preliminary Examining Authority shall so declare. See PCT Rule Filing You file an international patent PCT application with a national i.

International Publication As soon as possible after the expiration of 18 months from the earliest filing date, the content of your international application is disclosed to the world. Supplementary International Search Optional A second ISA identifies, at your request, additional published documents which may not have been found by the first ISA which carried out the main search because of the diversity of prior art in different languages and different technical fields.

International Preliminary Examination Optional One of the ISAs at your request, carries out an additional patentability analysis, usually on a version of your application which you have amended in light of the content of the written opinion. National Phase After the end of the PCT procedure, usually at 30 months from the earliest filing date of your initial application, from which you claim priority, you start to pursue the grant of your patents directly before the national or regional Patent Offices of the countries in which you want to obtain them.

Hague Agreement What is the Hague Agreement on Industrial Designs: The Hague System for the International Registration of Industrial Designs provides a practical business solution for registering up to designs in 74 contracting parties covering 91 countries, through the filing of one single international application. In a legal sense, an industrial design constitutes the ornamental aspect of an article. Madrid Protocol What is the Madrid Protocol for Trademark Registration: The Madrid System is a convenient and cost-effective solution for registering and managing trademarks worldwide.

For more on any of the above: see www.