Under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which has been in force since 1973 and is administered by a United Nations entity known as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), applicants can file an international patent application. The application is filed at the applicant's national patent office (as long as the country is a signatory to the treaty, which most countries, including the U.S., Canada and those in the E.U., are). An international patent grants protection according to the terms of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, though many applicants also apply for national patents.
Instructions
1. Download or request an international application from your country's patent office or set up an account with the electronic filing system.
2. Enter all personal information (name, citizenship, contact information) that the forms ask of the applicant(s) and inventor(s).
3. Enter all requested information about the invention (time of invention, description, materials).
4. Request an international search and report from an International Search Authority (the U.S., Canadian, Australian, Chinese, Japanese and French patent offices all have this designation). The search will survey relevant patent documents to ensure that your application is not in conflict with any existing applications.
5. Wait for the WIPO to publish your application and forward it to all patent offices that are part of the PCT.
6. Start the national process, if you choose, following the application's publication.
7. Provide any extra documentation that your patent office requests during the patent examination.
8. Wait for the examination to finish and the patent to be granted.
