If you have an invention and you want to protect it in several countries, you have the following options:
- File separate patent applications at the same time in all of the countries in which you want to protect your invention
- File a patent application in a Paris Convention country and then file separate patent applications in other Paris Convention countries within 12 months from the filing date of that first patent application. This will give you the benefit in all those countries of the filing date of the first application;
- You can file an application under the PCT.
Of the three options, filing an application under the PCT is the most simple and cost effective option.
PCT stands for Patent Cooperation Treaty. There are 142 countries who are part of the PCT. PCT makes it possible to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in each of the member countries by filing a single international patent application instead of filing several separate national patent applications.
An application under the PCT has the effect of a national patent application in all PCT member countries. Notable member countries include Japan, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Sweden, Germany, and Italy. The list of PCT member countries can be found here www.wipo.int/pct/guide/en/gdvol1/annexes/annexa/ax_a.pdf
To file an application under the PCT, you must be a national or resident of one of the PCT member countries. If there is more than one applicant, at least one applicant must be a national or resident of a PCT member country.
You can file your application directly with the USPTO. USPTO accepts electronic applications.
There are three types of fees associated with filing an application under PCT:
An international filing fee of $13000
A search fee of $2080
Transmittal fee of $240
The details of the fees can be found here: Patent Fees
At the time of filing, you have to pay only a single set of fees covering the filing, searching and publication of the application. Once your application enters the national phase, you will be required to pay the national filing fee and the translation charges, if any. When your application enters the national phase, the national patent office will determine whether or not to grant you a patent.
When you file an application under PCT and the application is in the prescribed format, you can rest assured that your application will not be rejected on formal grounds by any PCT member country patent office during the national phase of the processing of the application. On the basis of the international search report which the USPTO will provide you, you can evaluate with reasonable probability the chances of your invention being patented. The main benefit of filing a PCT application is that actual patent filings in the designated countries can be delayed until such time as the PCT process is completed. During the optional international preliminary examination, you can amend your application and thus put it in order before processing by the various national patent offices. An international publication of your invention puts the world on notice.
