PCT

The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international treaty with more than 150 contracted states. The PCT makes it possible to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in a large number of countries by filing a single ‘international’ application instead of filing several separate or regional patent applications. The granting of patents, however, remains under control of the national or regional patent offices in what is called the national phases.

The granting of European patents is ruled by the European Patent Convention, which has been in force since 1978. The main function of the European Patent Convention is to provide for a centralized grant procedure resulting in patents which confer on the proprietor, in each contracting state for which they are granted, the same rights as a national patent in that state. In addition, the Convention includes rules on the interpretation of patents, on grounds for revocation and provides for centralized opposition, limitation and revocation procedures. When following the PCT route, the time limit for entry in the regional stage before the European Patent Office (EPO) expires 31 months after the priority date. The European regional phase can be entered by filing the required documents and paying the prescribed fees at the EPO.  After entry into the European regional phase, the EPO establishes whether a supplementary search is required. After the examination fee has been paid, the procedure in the European regional phase is identical to the procedure in European patent applications filed directly with the EPO, except that the examiner may take the International Preliminary Report on Patentability (IPRP) into account. For more details on the European patent procedure, please read the included background information.

Visit the PCT FAQs page on the WIPO website for more info