PCT or
International Patent Application

Over a hundred countries of the world are parties to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Under the provisions of the PCT, a single International patent application can be filed with the International Bureau, designating those countries in the PCT in which patent protection is desired.

The PCT (International Application) enables the inventor to defer filing individual country (National Phase) patents for up to 31 months (depending on the country) from the original Priority Date. As a result the inventor, having filed a Provisional Application or a Standard (20yr) Patent will need to file a PCT before the twelve (12) months period from their Priority Date has expired. This will give them another 18 months of protection of their Priority Date.

The PCT is useful when the inventor/owner is trying to give the invention ‘time in the market’ to establish itself, or when cash flow requires the deferment of the expense of taking National Phase (20 yr) patents in specific countries. It also allows the inventor/owner time to research and identify those countries where potential markets exist.

It should be noted that the PCT application does not take the place of the individual “national” applications in each country, but simply defers the national processing of the patent application in each country. The costs of the PCT application phase are additional to the cost of the processing of the patent application each selected country.

International Search Report

An International searching authority will conduct an International novelty search on the claims of the PCT application. The International novelty search will cover published patent applications from major foreign patent offices. The International novelty search may also extend through certain non-patent literature. Upon completion of the search, the International searching authority will issue an International Search Report (ISR) and if requested and paid for, an examination report called a Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority (ISO) will also be produced.

These will list documents (usually earlier patent specifications), which the International Searching Authority believes to be relevant to the invention as claimed in the patent claims. The search report usually issues about 3 months after lodging the PCT application. Please note that the International Searching Authority does not guarantee the accuracy of its search. The search is not an infringement search.

This Written Opinion explains why documents have been cited and alerts you to any problems your application may have in relation to novelty, inventiveness, and industrial applicability, as well as any problems you may have with clarity in your specification.

Advantage – You have the opportunity to make changes to your application based on this Written Opinion up until the examiner issues the International Preliminary Report on Patentability (11) 28 months after earliest priority date, and distributes it to the IP Office of all Treaty participation Countries.

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