Template:Short description Template:Use Oxford spelling Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox treaty Template:Patent Cooperation Treaty The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international patent law treaty, concluded in 1970. 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.
A single filing of a PCT application is made with a Receiving Office (RO) in one language. It then results in a search performed by an International Searching Authority (ISA), accompanied by a written opinion regarding the patentability of the invention, which is the subject of the application. It is optionally followed by a preliminary examination, performed by an International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA).<ref>Template:PCT Article</ref> Finally, the relevant national or regional authorities administer matters related to the examination of application (if provided by national law) and issuance of patent.
A PCT application does not itself result in the grant of a patent, since there is no such thing as an "international patent", and the grant of patent is a prerogative of each national or regional authority.<ref name="Oxonica45">Oxonica Energy Ltd v Neuftec Ltd (2008) EWHC 2127 (Pat), item 45.</ref> In other words, a PCT application, which establishes a filing date in all contracting states, must be followed up with the step of entering into national or regional phases to proceed towards grant of one or more patents. The PCT procedure essentially leads to a standard national or regional patent application, which may be granted or rejected according to applicable law, in each jurisdiction in which a patent is desired.
The contracting states,<ref name="ART1">Template:PCT Article</ref> the states which are parties to the PCT, constitute the International Patent Cooperation Union.<ref name="ART1"/>
HistoryEdit
The Washington Diplomatic Conference on the Patent Cooperation Treaty was held in Washington from 25 May to 19 June 1970. The Patent Cooperation Treaty was signed on the last day of the conference on 19 June 1970. The Treaty entered into force on 24 January 1978, initially with 18 contracting states.<ref name="25years">World Intellectual Property Organization, The First Twenty-five Years of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) 1970–1995, 1995, Template:ISBN, page 141.</ref> The first international applications were filed on 1 June 1978.<ref name="25years"/> The Treaty was subsequently amended in 1979, and modified in 1984 and 2001.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As of December 2022, PCT membership consisted of 157 contracting states.<ref name="pct_contracting_states"/> It was expected that by the end of 2020 the total number of PCT applications filed since the system became operational in 1978 would reach 4 million.<ref name="2019 WIPO report">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
PartiesEdit
Template:Further Any contracting state to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property can become a member of the PCT.<ref>Template:PCT Article</ref> A majority of the world's countries are parties to the PCT, including all of the major industrialized countries (with a few exceptions, notably Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela and Pakistan). As of 26 December 2022, there were 157 contracting states to the PCT.<ref name="pct_contracting_states">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ProcedureEdit
The main advantages of the PCT procedure, also referred to as the international procedure, are that (a) it allows the filing of a single patent application, replacing the need for filing a multiplicity of separate applications, with a procedure taking place in a predictable way;<ref name="Erstling-2005">Erstling, J., & Boutillon, I. (2005). The Patent Cooperation Treaty: At the center of the international patent system. Wm. Mitchell L. Rev., 32, 1583</ref> (b) the international search and, optionally, the international preliminary examination "give applicants a better basis for deciding whether and in which countries to further pursue their applications", thus allowing "for better management of patent portfolios and the avoidance of unnecessary expenses";<ref name="Erstling-2005"/> and (c) it allows the deferral of national processing.<ref name="Erstling-2005"/><ref>Silverman, R. (2005). Patent Filing Strategies for Pharmaceutical Products: Simple Cost-Benefit Analysis Based on Filing Costs and Pharmaceutical Sales. AIPLA QJ, 33, 153; Quote: "The PCT is designed to serve those who seek broad protection early while wishing to defer most of the global patent procurement expense until a later time."</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
A PCT application (also called "international patent application") has two phases.<ref name=2013-part1>Template:Cite videoTemplate:Cbignore</ref> The first phase is the international phase in which patent protection is pending under a single patent application filed with the patent office of a contracting state of the PCT. The second phase is the national and regional phase which follows the international phase in which rights are continued by filing necessary documents with the patent offices of separate contracting states of the PCT.<ref name=2013-part1/><ref>"PCT Applicant's Guide"</ref> A PCT application, as such, is not an actual request that a patent be granted, and it is not converted into one unless and until it enters the "national phase".<ref>Oxonica Energy Ltd v Neuftec Ltd (2008) EWHC 2127 (Pat), item 19.</ref>
FilingEdit
The first step of the procedure consists in filing an international (patent) application with a competent patent office, called a Receiving Office (RO). This application is called an international application or simply a PCT application since it neither results in an international patent nor in a PCT patent, neither of which exists. The PCT application needs to be filed in one language only, although a translation of the application may be required for the international search<ref name="Art15-5-c et al">Template:PCT Article and Template:PCT Rule</ref> and the international publication,<ref name="Rule-12-4-a">Template:PCT Rule</ref> depending on the language of filing and the competent or chosen<ref>Template:PCT Rule</ref> International Searching Authority.<ref name="Art15-5-c et al"/><ref name="Rule-12-4-a"/>
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 PCT filing date is accorded.<ref>Template:PCT Article, Template:PCT Rule</ref> If a PCT filing date is erroneously accorded, the Receiving Office may, within four months from the filing date, declare that the application should be considered withdrawn.<ref>Template:PCT Article and Template:PCT Rule; Practical Advice: PCT application considered withdrawn by receiving Office after having been accorded a PCT filing date, PCT Newsletter, June 2009, pp. 10–11.</ref> The requirement that at least one applicant must be a national or resident of a contracting state to the PCT needs, however, "only to be complied with at the time of filing the international application. Later changes in the applicant's country of residence (or nationality) ... have no consequence on the validity of the international application itself."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In most member states, the applicant or at least one of the applicants of the application is required to be a national or resident of the state of the receiving office where the application is filed. Applicants from any contracting state may file a PCT application at the International Bureau in Geneva,<ref>Template:PCT Rule</ref> subject to national security provisions.<ref>Template:PCT Article; {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Upon filing of the PCT application, all contracting states are automatically designated.<ref group="notes">Applicable as from 1 January 2004.</ref><ref group="notes">Germany, Japan, and the Republic of Korea can be excluded from this all inclusive designation, if priority is claimed from an earlier national filing in the state concerned. See Template:PCT Rule notifications of incompatibility in {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Subject to reservations made by any contracting state, a PCT application fulfilling the requirements of the treaty and accorded a PCT filing date has the effect of a regular national application in each designated state as of the PCT filing date, which date is considered to be the actual filing date in each designated State.<ref>Template:PCT Article.</ref>
Search and written opinionEdit
A search or "international search" is then made by an authorized international searching authority (ISA) to find the most relevant prior art documents regarding the claimed subject matter. The search results in an international search report (ISR), together with a written opinion regarding patentability.<ref group="notes">The written opinion is established by the International Searching Authority (ISA) for international applications filed on or after 1 January 2004 only.</ref> The ISA(s) that the applicant can choose depends on the receiving Office with which the applicant filed the international application.<ref name="Practical advice 06/2013">Template:Cite journal</ref> In 2013, the most selected ISAs were the European Patent Office (EPO) (with 37.7% of all ISRs issued), followed by the Japan Patent Office (JPO) (20.7%) and the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) (14.8%).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The ISA must establish the ISR and its accompanying written within "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."<ref>Template:PCT Article and Template:PCT Rule</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The ISR is published together with the PCT application (or as soon as possible afterwards). The written opinion is initially confidential, but unless it is superseded by an International Preliminary Examination Report (see optional examination, below), it is made available in the form of an International Preliminary Report on Patentability (Chapter I of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, or IPRP Chapter I), within 30 months of the filing date or a priority date, if any.<ref>Template:PCT Rule</ref> If the ISR is not in English, it is translated into English for publication.<ref>Template:PCT Rule</ref> A designated Office may require a translation of the IPRP Chapter I into English.<ref>Template:PCT Rule</ref>
The international search report can help the applicant decide whether it would be worthwhile seeking national protection, and if so, in how many countries, as fees and other expenses, including translation costs, must be paid to enter the national phase in each country. Yet another advantage of filing a PCT application under the PCT is that many national patent authorities will rely on the international search report (although the PCT does not obligate them to do so) instead of performing a prior art search themselves, and the applicant may thus be able to save search fees.<ref name="Oxonica46">Oxonica Energy Ltd v Neuftec Ltd (2008) EWHC 2127 (Pat), item 46.</ref>
In addition to the compulsory international search, at least one optional supplementary international search may also be carried out by participating International Searching Authorities,<ref group="notes">Namely, an International Searching Authority which is competent to do so under Template:PCT Rule.</ref> upon request by the applicant<ref>Template:PCT Rule</ref> and payment of corresponding fees.<ref>Template:PCT Rule</ref> The purpose is to reduce the likelihood of seeing new prior art being cited in the subsequent national phases.<ref name="sis">WIPO web site, Amendments to the PCT Regulations as from 1 January 2009, undated. Consulted on 17 October 2009. See also Practical Advice: The benefits of requesting supplementary international search, PCT Newsletter, No. 01/2012 (January 2012), pp. 10–11.</ref> A supplementary international search is said to allow applicants to obtain an additional search report "taking into account the growing linguistic diversity of the prior art being found".<ref name="sis"/> In 2009 and 2010, the demand for supplementary international searches was relatively low.<ref>Supplementary International Search, PCT/MIA/18/10, 24 February 2011 (Document prepared by WIPO's International Bureau). Consulted on 15 April 2011.</ref>
PublicationEdit
The PCT application is published by the International Bureau at the WIPO, based in Geneva, Switzerland, in one of the ten "languages of publication": Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.<ref>Template:PCT Rule</ref> The publication normally takes place promptly after 18 months from the filing date or, if a priority is claimed, from the earliest priority date.<ref>Template:PCT Article</ref><ref name="PCT Newsletter 2016-10">Template:Cite journal See also Template:Cite journal</ref> There are two exceptions to this rule, however. First, a PCT application may be published earlier if the applicant requests early publication.<ref name="PCT Newsletter 2016-10"/><ref>Template:PCT Article</ref> Secondly, if 18 months after the priority date, the PCT application designates only the United States, then the application is not automatically published.<ref>Template:PCT Article, PCT Reservations, Declarations, Notifications and Incompatibilities</ref>
From the publication of the PCT application until 28 months after the priority date, any third party may file observations regarding the novelty and inventive step of the invention. The observations may be submitted anonymously, and no fee is due for filing such observations.<ref>Template:Cite mailing list</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Practical Advice, Making third party observations, PCT Newsletter, July–August 2012, No. 07-08/2012, pp. 17–19.</ref>
An international application may also be withdrawn to prevent its publication. To do so, the International Bureau (IB) "must receive the notice of withdrawal of the application before the corresponding technical preparations for publication are completed".<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:PCT Rule</ref>
Optional examinationEdit
An international preliminary examination may optionally be requested ("demanded").<ref>The international preliminary examination may start before the publication of the PCT application if the applicant has expressly requested an earlier start. See WIPO, PCT International Search and Preliminary Examination Guidelines (Guidelines for the Processing by International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authorities of International Applications Under the Patent Cooperation Treaty) as in force from March 25, 2004, Page 25, "Commencement of International Preliminary Examination: ... The International Preliminary Examining Authority normally starts the international preliminary examination when: ... (b) the time limit within which the applicant was permitted to file the demand ... has expired, or earlier if the applicant has expressly requested an earlier start".</ref><ref name="Practical-Advice-04/2010"> "Factors to be considered when deciding whether or not to file a demand for international preliminary examination" (Views of David Reed), Practical Advice, PCT Newsletter No. 04/2010, page 8ff.</ref> The international preliminary examination is conducted by an authorized International Preliminary Examination Authority (IPEA) and its objective is "to formulate a preliminary and non-binding opinion on the questions whether the claimed invention appears to be novel, to involve an inventive step (to be non-obvious), and to be industrially applicable".<ref>Template:PCT Article</ref> This results in an International Preliminary Examination Report (IPER). Since 2004, the IPER bears the title "international preliminary report on patentability (Chapter II of the Patent Cooperation Treaty)" (commonly abbreviated "IPRP Chapter II").<ref>Template:PCT Rule</ref> The filing of a demand for international preliminary examination, which must be done within a time limit,<ref>Template:PCT Article and Template:PCT Rule</ref> is subject to the payment of a "handling fee" for the benefit of the International Bureau<ref>Template:PCT Rule</ref> and a "preliminary examination fee" for the benefit of the IPEA.<ref>Template:PCT Rule</ref> The cost of filing a demand varies depending on the IPEA used by the applicant.<ref name="Practical advice 06/2013"/><ref name="Practical-Advice-04/2010"/> The IPEA(s) that the applicant can choose however depends on the receiving Office with which the applicant filed the PCT application (the same applies to ISAs).<ref name="Practical advice 06/2013"/>
If the written opinion established by the International Searching Authority (ISA) is positive, "there is little value to be obtained from filing a demand".<ref name="Practical-Advice-04/2010"/> However, "[for] cases where the written opinion of the ISA contains negative findings, the savings in the applicant's/agent's time and, where applicable, agent's fees, required by multiple responses to national offices may well justify the use of the Chapter II procedure."<ref name="Practical-Advice-05/2010"> "Factors to be considered when deciding whether or not to file a demand for international preliminary examination – Part 2" (Views of David Reed), Practical Advice, PCT Newsletter No. 05/2010, page 8ff.</ref> The demand for an international preliminary examination also gives the applicant an opportunity to amend the claims, description and drawings. Otherwise, the applicant can only modify the claims once within two months from the time of the ISR has been transmitted.<ref>Template:PCT Article</ref> There are many advantages, such as cost and effort savings ("as well as possibly shortened pendency/faster grants"<ref name="Practical-Advice-05/2010"/>), in receiving a favourable IPRP Chapter II, i.e. a favourable report following an international preliminary examination.<ref name="Practical-Advice-05/2010"/> For instance, national offices "with a smaller examining staff and those without examiners tend to rely more heavily on the results in the IPRP Chapter II".<ref name="Practical-Advice-05/2010"/>
When an international preliminary 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). The election of a contracting state correspondingly means electing it when demanding (requesting) the examination.<ref>Template:PCT Article; Template:PCT Article</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
An alternative to the filing of a demand for international preliminary examination is to file informal comments in response to the written opinion established by the ISA. These informal comments are not published. The informal comments should be submitted to the International Bureau (IB), and not to the ISA or the IPEA.<ref name="Practical-Advice-10/2004">PCT Newsletter 10/2004: Practical Advice. Consulted on 25 April 2010.</ref> They are kept in the file of the PCT application and, in the case where no demand is filed, forwarded to the designated offices,<ref name="Practical-Advice-04/2010"/><ref name="Practical-Advice-10/2004"/> which are free to require a translation of the informal comments.<ref name="Practical-Advice-10/2004"/>
Substantive conditions of patentabilityEdit
The PCT does not make any specific provision concerning the types of invention which may be the subject of an international application. Rules 39 and 67 permit International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authorities not to carry out search and examination on certain types of subject matter, such as scientific and mathematical theories, methods of doing business and computer programs to the extent that the Authority is not equipped to carry out a search or international preliminary examination concerning such programs. However, this does not affect the issue of whether the invention is patentable under the laws of the contracting states,<ref name="27-5">Template:PCT Article</ref> as "[n]othing in [the PCT] and the Regulations is intended to be construed as prescribing anything that would limit the freedom of each contracting state to prescribe such substantive conditions of patentability as it desires."<ref name="27-5"/>
National and regional phasesEdit
Finally, at 30 months<ref group="notes">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. Consult this chart for national phase entry deadlines for specific countries or regions.</ref> from the filing date of the PCT application or from the earliest priority date of the application if a priority is claimed, the international phase ends and the PCT application enters in national and regional phase. However, any national law may fix time limits which expire later than 30 months. For instance, it is possible to enter the European regional phase at 31 months from the earliest priority date. National and regional phases can also be started earlier on the express request of the applicant, even before publication of the international application.<ref>Template:PCT Article or Template:PCT Article; Entering the national phase early where the PCT application has not yet been published, Practical Advice, PCT Newsletter No. 10/2011, page 15ff.</ref>
If the entry into national or regional phase is not performed within the prescribed time limit, the PCT application generally ceases to have the effect of a national or regional application.<ref>Template:PCT Article</ref>
StatisticsEdit
The millionth PCT application was filed at the end of 2004,<ref>WIPO web site, PCT One Million and Counting</ref> whereas the two millionth application was filed in 2011.<ref>Two Millionth PCT Application Filed, PCT Newsletter, April 2011, No. 04/2011, p. 1.</ref> The first ever decline in the number of filed PCT applications in over 30 years occurred in 2009, with a 4.5 percent drop compared to 2008.<ref>Kaitlin Mara, First-Ever Drop In Filings Under Patent Cooperation Treaty Seen In 2009 , Intellectual Property Watch, 8 February 2010. Consulted on 18 February 2010.</ref> In 2013, about 205,000 international applications were filed, making 2013 the first year during which more than 200,000 PCT applications were filed in one year.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The 3 millionth PCT application was published on 2 February 2017,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the 5 millionth PCT application was published in 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Applications in 2018 were filed by users from 127 countries. The United States of America continued to be the largest source of applications, followed by China, Japan, Germany, and the Republic of Korea. Applications from China have grown at the fastest rate, rising to 21.1% of all applications in 2018. The top individual filer of applications in 2018 was Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., which filed 5,405 applications, followed by Mitsubishi Electric with 2,812 applications, Intel with 2,499 applications, Qualcomm with 2,404 applications, and ZTE with 2,080 applications.<ref name="2019 WIPO report"/> Countries located in Asia were the source of 50.5% of all PCT applications in 2018. Applicants in Europe (24.5%) and North America (23.1%) were the other major sources of filings. The combined share for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and Oceania amounted to 1.7% of total PCT filings.<ref name="2019 WIPO report"/>
In 2019, China surpassed the United States to become the largest user of the PCT.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
The World Intellectual Property Organization provides statistics on the PCT System in the PCT Yearly Review, the World Intellectual Property Indicators and the IP Statistics Data Center.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
See alsoEdit
- Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO)
- Patent Law Treaty (PLT)
- Substantive Patent Law Treaty (SPLT)
- Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (GRATK)
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
External linksEdit
- The full text of the Patent Cooperation Treaty Template:In lang in the WIPO Lex database — official website of WIPO.
- Patent Cooperation Treaty resources on the WIPO web site.