International Patents

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• USPTO patent rights apply only to the United States
• They do not protect patents in foreign countries
• If a person or business wishes to protect an invention in other countries, a foreign patent is needed
• Different countries have very different patent laws

Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property

The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883) was the first treaty to try to address patents on an international level

• fixes the filing date of patent applications to the date that the inventor first files a patent application in his or her home country
• someone who files for a patent in his or her home country can use that filing date with other member nations to establish his or her patent’s priority in those nations
  • protects an inventor’s “place in line” in other countries
  • priority right is available for only 12 months after the very first patent application
  • If an inventor wants to protect an invention in other countries
    • must file patent applications in those countries within 12 months of first filing for a patent in the home country
    • Inventors who do not file within 12 months lose their place in line for determining patent ownership
• establishes only the priority filing date
• Inventors still must follow all the other provisions of patent laws in other countries to protect their inventions internationally

Patent Cooperation Treaty of 1970 (PCT)

The Patent Cooperation Treaty of 1970 (PCT) attempts to streamline the application process.

• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) administers the PTC
  • part of the United Nations
• created to make international protection of patents easier by allowing an inventor to file for patent protection simultaneously in several member countries
• allows inventors to file one international patent application
• Inventors submit the international patent application to their national patent office or to the WIPO
• application then has the same effect as filing for a patent in member countries
• filing date for the international application is fixed in priority as soon as the application is submitted
• an international patent application is subject to an international search
• Examiners review the published documents in all member countries to see if there is any information that might affect the patentability of the invention
• inventors have up to 18 months after they submit their international patent applications to decide whether they will pursue patents in other countries that are PCT members
• If they do, the patent process is shortened because other countries will rely on the results of the international search in conducting their review of the patent application
• inventor is guaranteed patent protection as of the date of the original international application
  • important because many foreign countries grant patent protection only to the first inventor who files for a patent application
• United States joined the PCT in 1978
• More than 150 countries have signed the treaty