PCT

The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international patent law treaty, concluded in 1970, that provides a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect inventions in each member's State. A patent application filed under the PCT is called a Foreign Application, or PCT application.

A single filing of a Foreign Application is made with a Receiving Office (RO) in one language. It then results in a search performed by an International Searching Authority (ISA), accompanied with a written opinion regarding the patentability of the invention which is the subject of the application. It is optionally followed by a preliminary examination, performed by an International Preliminary Examination Authority (IPEA). Finally, the examination (if provided by national law) and grant procedures are handled by the relevant national or regional authorities. The PCT filing does not lead to the grant of any type of "international patent", because, as mentioned above, it does not exist at the present time.

If you think you may want to file a PCT application please contact Apex Juris, pllc and we will work with you through the process.