Patent Cooperation Treaty, patents

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. 

Because each country has its own patent laws, the precise meaning of the bibhographic data and the legal significance of the pubUshed patent document vary from country to country. The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) provides a recommended code to distinguish the various types of documents and to simplify storage and retrieval of patent data (2), but the code is implemented differentiy by different countries. For example, in the United States an A-document in 1995 was a patent in the Nethedands, an A-document was a pubUshed unexamined appHcation. It is essential to understand each country s system to interpret the status of its patent documents. 

All countries listed are included in Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) except for Argentina, Cuba, Cypress, Egypt, the former GDR, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Malaysia, Malta, Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan, the former Yugoslavia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. 

Standard Code for Identification of Different Kinds of Patent Documents, "Patent Cooperation Treaty," Annex C. 

Patent agent/attomey, 78 177 Patent Analyzer system, 78 250 Patent appbcations, 78 159 drafting, 78 177-179 examination by the Patent Cooperation Treaty process, 78 188t examination of, 78 200 fibng and examination of, 78 179—182 provisional, 78 179 regional and national, 78 189—191 Patent claims, 78 165, 205 drafting, 78 178... 

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

Many of the most significant patenting regions (e.g. Japan, the USA and Europe) are also signatories of the International Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). This allows for an initial review of the patent application to be undertaken by a single patent office. The office then provides a summary assessment of this application, which provides an indication of the likely response that would be obtained from individual PCT countries. For many, this initial assessment plays a major role in deciding whether to proceed with the patent application in individual countries. 

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). 

After submission to a patent office, the file is examined for some basic formal requirements and, if adequate, is given a filing date. A first indication about the chances of a patent application may be obtained from a search report which is issued by the European Patent Office and also for international patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (see below). In most cases, the search report will list a number of earlier patents or publications and indicate whether these interfere with the proposed claims of the examined file. As a consequence of the search report the applicant can amend the proposed claims before the examination is initiated. 

The prosecution procedure of official action and responses may be repeated in all of the individual countries where a patent application was filed. Fortunately, international patent cooperation treaties exist to shorten and simplify this awkward process for both sides. 

The International Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) created the opportunity to file a patent application almost world-wide (most countries accept PCT applications) at international patent registration offices which are usually identical with the national patent offices. A search report summarizing relevant prior art will be issued and, if requested, a preliminary examination considering the prior art is performed. The preliminary international examination provides a non-binding opinion whether the claimed invention appears to be novel, inventive and industrially applicable. It does not investigate the patentability according to any national law. 

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). 

Evans, J.M., Thompson, M. and Upton, N. (1992) Patent Cooperation Treaty Application WO 92/22293. 

If a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT, see below) filing is decided, the application can be filed by the applicant in the PCT Receiving Office of the US Patent Office. Decisions then have to be made shortly before 30 months after the initial filing date with regard to national filings, as described below in the section on PCT . 

Another convention is the Patent Cooperation Treaty, to which the UK is a party along with members in both North and South America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, as well as most of the EPC countries and other European countries. This facilitates making many national applications by filing in the single Patent Office. Thereafter, the individual national procedures operate independently, leading again to separate national patents. 

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