Intellectual property Patent Cooperation Treaty

Colloquim on the Patent Cooperation Treaty, World Intellectual Property Organization, 1993. 

Wodd Intellectual Property Organization, Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and Regulations Under the PCT (As in Forcefrom July 1, 1992), WIPO, 1992. 

Sources World Intellectual Property Organization. The Patent Cooperation Treaty, http // www.wipo.int/pct/en/texts/articles/atoc.htm [accessed September 20,2007],... 

One important tool in the international patent world is the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). By filing an international patent application, one may seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in each of a large number of countries. Such an application may be filed by anyone who is a national or resident of a contracting state of the PCT. A list of the more than 120 contracting states can be found on the website of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) [5]. The effect of the international application in each such state is the same as if a... 

Van Wijk, R.J. De Weijer, A.P. Klarenberg, D.A. De Jonge, R. 8c Jongerden, G.J. Technique for Measuring Properties of Polymeric fibres World Intellectual Property Organization Patent Cooperation Treaty International Application WO 99/12019 Assigned to Akzo Nobel N.V. Piled in 1998. Priority Number NL 1006895 (1997). 

Kittrell, C. 8c Feld, M.S. Catheter System for Imaging World Intellectual Property Organization Patent Cooperation Treaty International Application WO 89/02718 Assigned to Massachusetts Institute of Technology Filed in 1988. Priority Number US 100714 (1987). 

Apart from applications to national authorities, patent applications may also be made through the European Patent Office (EPO) and the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). 

Second to the United States Patent Office, the largest database is accessed through the European Patent Office, where one should conduct a similar classification search as suggested previously for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (2). The World Intellectual Property Organization (3) offers many useful features including complete details of the Patent Cooperative Treaty and its gazette. The Canadian Patent Office can be reached at the website mentioned in Ref. 4. 

Anyone applying for a patent at the national or international level is required to determine whether their creation is new or is already owned or claimed. To determine this, huge amounts of information must be searched. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization s (WIPO) International Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) have created classification systems which organize information concerning inventions into indexed, manageable categories for easy retrieval. 

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) (1970). Summary of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). Available http //www.wipo.int/treaties/en/registration/ pct/summary pct.html. Accessed 20 July 2006. 

There are a number of other regional patent application systems in operation. In Africa, two regional systems operate the African Regional Industrial Property Organization (ARIPO), formed in 1976, and the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), formed in 1962. These systems have 11 and 15 member states, respectively. In the Middle East, the Gulf Cooperation Treaty operate to provide protection in six countries (for example, Saudi Arabia and The United Arab Emirates), and the Eurasian Patent System operates to provide protection in nine countries of the former Soviet Union, including Russia. 

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