PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty)

The PCT, or Patent Cooperation Treaty, is an international treaty concluded in 1970 and administered by WIPO. It allows protection of an invention to be sought in a large number of states through the filing of a single international application. The PCT does not grant a worldwide patent. It organises a centralised procedure of filing, search and preliminary examination, at the end of which each national or regional office grants or refuses the title under its own law.

The international phase of the PCT

First, the international application is filed with a receiving office, for example the INPI, the European Patent Office or WIPO directly, within the priority period of twelve months from the first filing. Second, an international searching authority draws up a search report and a written opinion on patentability. The application is published eighteen months after the priority date. Third, the applicant may request an international preliminary examination, which results in a non-binding report that is nevertheless useful for steering the strategy. The rules and fees are detailed on the website of WIPO.

Entering the national and regional phases

On expiry of a period of thirty months from priority, extended to thirty-one months for the European route, the applicant must enter the national or regional phase in each of the states or offices where it wishes to obtain a patent. It then pays the local fees, provides the translations and appoints a representative. States not entered at that date are definitively lost. The PCT application may thus lead to a European patent, to national patents or to both.

The strategic interest of the PCT

The PCT makes it possible to defer the extension decision and the corresponding costs by eighteen months, while keeping the priority date. That period is used to assess the market, find partners or licensees and take advantage of the international search report. In practice, the PCT route is favoured by companies contemplating protection on several continents. The firm advises on the choice between the PCT route, the direct European route and national filings, as part of the patent portfolio strategy presented on the page patent litigation attorney.