How to Invent and Protect Your Invention: A Guide to Patents for Scientists and Engineers

12.2 THE INTERNATIONAL PATENT COOPERATION TREATY

There is no such thing as a world or international patent. However, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) created a unified procedure for filing patent applications in most of the world's major industrialized nations. Collectively, the signatories to the PCT are known as the International Patent Cooperation Union and they have agreed to accept a single standardized application. At the time this book was printed, 143 countries had signed the PCT, including the United States. To start the PCT process, an inventor files a single PCT or international application in the PCT receiving office (in Virginia for U.S. inventors) in the inventor's national language. The application establishes a filing date in all PCT countries and can be translated into other languages for use in foreign application processes.

12.2.1 PCT Examination Procedures

Based on the PCT application, the International Searching Authority (ISA) carries out a prior art search and issues a preliminary report on patentability. While some countries rely on this report, it is not a binding decision. Within three months of when the ISA issues its report, a patent applicant can demand additional patent examination by the International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA). This is essentially an appeal of the ISA's decision; and during this stage the patent applicant has additional rights, like the right to turn in written arguments, speak directly with an examiner, and amend ...