The PCT filing timeline refers to the Patent Cooperation Treaty, a global agreement with more than 150 contracting states.
- Protecting Inventions in Several Nations
- Who Utilizes the PCT?
- What Is a PCT Application’s Purpose?
The PCT filing timeline refers to the Patent Cooperation Treaty, a global agreement with more than 150 contracting states. An inventor can get a patent simultaneously in many different nations by using the PCT to submit a single international patent application. If the PCT didn’t exist, the inventor would have to submit separate patent applications for each nation or region where their invention needed to be protected.
It is still up to national or regional patent offices to decide which patents are issued; this is known as the “national phase.” An inventor must follow specific procedures to file under the PCT.
Step 1: File
The inventor must follow the PCT rules, submit an international application through a national patent office, and pay the associated cost.
Step 2: Perform an International Search
An item’s eligibility for a patent is determined using the patent forms and technical literature by a quality that defines the patent office, known as an International Searching Authority, or ISA, once the application has been submitted. If an invention is patentable, the ISA then publishes a written opinion.
The inventor may submit an updated claim or unofficial comments following the report’s publication and opinion. A demand can be submitted by an inventor if they want to dispute the conclusions. If the inventor decides not to challenge the ruling, the statement becomes the product’s International Preliminary Report on Patentability.
22 months after the priority date and three months after the publication of the written opinion, a demand must be submitted. Arguments and modifications must be submitted by the same timeframes and are often presented along with the order. Submission of requests after the deadline is considered non-submission. There are few possibilities to cancel a need and receive a fee return.
Step 3: International Publication
The 18 months from the oldest submission date have just passed, and the public can now see the international application.
Step 4: Optional Supplementary International Search
An innovator may request a second ISA to search for materials not discovered by the first ISA if they want to look for new papers.
Step 5: Optional International Preliminary Examination
A second patentability analysis by one of the ISAs may also be requested by the inventor. Usually, the first application is modified to achieve this.
Step 6: National Phase
The PCT process ends with the direct patent application at each national or regional office. This usually occurs 30 months following the application’s earliest filing date.
Protecting Innovations in Several Nations
There is no such thing as an international patent because patents are only valid where they are issued. Nevertheless, people who want to secure their ideas over several nations have options.
They can submit many patent applications directly to each patent office simultaneously. They can offer a separate patent application for each of the other Paris Convention nations within a year of the first filing date if they initially filed their application in a Paris Conference nation or one of its Member States. The advantage of this strategy is that the secondary applications may continue to use the initial filing date of the primary application.
The other choice is to submit a PCT application, which is acceptable in all PCT contracting states. Within a year of the initial application, the application may be submitted directly. Comparing this approach to a direct filing with each country or using the Paris Conference countries, it is simpler and less expensive..
Who Utilizes the PCT?
Those attempting to get patent protection abroad, such as the following groups or individuals, use the PCT:
- Globally significant corporations
- study groups
- Higher education institutions
- Small and medium-sized businesses
- Personal inventors
The PCT Newsletter produces a list each year of the biggest PCT filers.
What Is a PCT Application’s Purpose?
The PCT application contains the same information and serves as the application’s initial submission instead of submitting separate patent applications to each nation’s office. Another advantage of filing a PCT application is that inventors who follow the treaty’s rules and regulations are not forced to modify their submission to satisfy various national restrictions. This is all about PCT filing timeline. For more info keep in touch with us.
