using the patent cooperation treaty (pct) as a strategic tool for business success may 20, 2009 2nd...

Using the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)

as a Strategic Tool for Business Success

May 20, 20092nd WIPO Seminar on Intellectual Property and Creative Small and Medium-Sized

Enterprises in the Digital Environment

Matthew R. Bryan - Director, Patent Cooperation Treaty Legal Division, WIPO

1) What is the PCT?

2) The advantages of the PCT

3) Recent and future developments

1) What is the PCT?

Using the traditional patent system to seek international patent protection

Local patent application followed within 12 months by multiple foreign applications claiming priority under Paris Convention:

- multiple formality requirements

- multiple searches

- multiple publications

- multiple examinations and prosecutions of applications

- translations and national fees required at 12 months

Some rationalization because of regional arrangements:

ARIPO, EAPO, EPO, OAPI

0 12

Fileapplication

locally

Fileapplications

abroad

(months)

• A mainly procedural international treaty facilitating certain steps in the process of obtaining patents internationally

• More specifically, the PCT establishes a procedure for the filing and processing of a single application for a patent which has legal effect in the countries which are Treaty members

• Simplifies the procedure for obtaining patent protection in many countries, making it more efficient and economical for:

(1) users of the patent system (applicants and inventors); and (2) patent Offices

=PCT

AlbaniaAlgeriaAngolaAntigua and BarbudaArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahrain BarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswana BrazilBulgariaBurkina FasoCameroonCanadaCentral African RepublicChadChile (2 June 09)China Colombia Comoros Congo

Costa RicaCôte d'IvoireCroatiaCubaCyprusCzech RepublicDemocratic People's Republic of KoreaDenmarkDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial Guinea EstoniaFinlandFrance,

GabonGambiaGeorgia GermanyGhana GreeceGrenadaGuatemalaGuinea

Guinea-Bissau HondurasHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIreland IsraelItalyJapanKazakhstanKenyaKyrgyzstanLao People’s Dem Rep.Latvia Lesotho LiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtenstein LithuaniaLuxembourgMadagascar

MalawiMalaysiaMaliMaltaMauritaniaMexicoMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMoroccoMozambiqueNamibia NetherlandsNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNorwayOmanPapua New GuineaPeru (6 June 09)Philippines

PolandPortugalRepublic of Korea Republic of MoldovaRomaniaRussian FederationSaint LuciaSaint Vincent and the Grenadines San MarinoSao Tomé e PrincipeSenegalSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSlovakiaSloveniaSouth AfricaSpainSri LankaSudanSwaziland

St. Kitts and NevisSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTajikistan The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia TogoTrinidad and Tobago TunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited Republic of TanzaniaUnited States of AmericaUzbekistanViet NamYugoslaviaZambiaZimbabwe

141 PCT States

The PCT System--typical use, in more detail

(months)

File PCTapplication

120 30

International search report

& written opinion

16 18

Internationalpublication

(optional)File

demand forInternational

preliminary examination

File localapplication

Enternationalphase

22 28

(optional)International preliminary report on

patentability

Typically a national patent application in the home country of

the applicant


(months)

File PCTapplication

120 30


& written opinion

16 18


(optional)File




Enternationalphase

22 28


patentabilityTypically filed in same

national patent office--one set of fees, one language,

one set of formality requirements--and legal effect in all PCT States


(months)

File PCTapplication

120 30


& written opinion

16 18


(optional)File




Enternationalphase

22 28


patentability

Report on state of the art (prior art

documents and their relevance) + initial

patentability opinion

• Today: the Patent Offices of – Australia– Austria– Canada– China– Finland– Japan– Republic of Korea– Russian Federation– Spain– Sweden– United States of America– European Patent Office– Nordic Patent Institute

• Soon: the Patent Offices of India and Brazil

The PCT International Searching Authorities


(months)

File PCTapplication

120 30


& written opinion

16 18


(optional)File




Enternationalphase

22 28


patentability

Disclosing to world content of application in standardized way


(months)

File PCTapplication

120 30


& written opinion

16 18


(optional)File




Enternationalphase

22 28


patentability

Request an additional patentability analysis on basis

of amended application


(months)

File PCTapplication

120 30


& written opinion

16 18


(optional)File




Enternationalphase

22 28


patentability

Additional patentability analysis, designed to assist in national phase decision-

making


(months)

File PCTapplication

120 30


& written opinion

16 18


(optional)File




Enternationalphase

22 28


patentability

Express intention and take steps to pursue to grant in

various states

General remarks on the PCT system (1)

• The PCT system is a patent “filing” system, not a patent “granting” system. There is no “PCT patent” or “global patent”

• The decision on granting patents is made exclusively by national or regional Offices in the national phase

• Only inventions may be protected via the PCT by applying for patents, utility models and similar titles

• Design and trademark protection cannot be obtained via the PCT. There are separate international conventions dealing with these types of industrial property protection (the Hague Agreement and the Madrid Agreement and Protocol, respectively)

10.02.05

• The PCT is administered by WIPO as are other international conventions in the field of industrial property, such as the Paris Convention

• PCT signed in June 1970, in Washington, D.C., and became operational in June 1978 with 18 States

General remarks on the PCT system (2)

PCT Statistics

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

180000

78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 00 02 04 06 08

0

10'000

20'000

30'000

40'000

50'000

60'000

US JP DE KR FR CN GB NL SE CH CA IT FI AU IL

International applications received in 2008 by country of origin

6%

76%

15%1%2%

Member StatesPCT SystemMadrid SytemHague SystemOther

WIPO’s Revenue 2008/09

(2) Why use the PCT?: its advantages

Most businesses worldwide which seek and use patents share objectives to:

1) control costs while preserving options

2) make informed business decisions

3) use the best tools available when seeking protection

The PCT responds to these objectivesThe PCT responds to these objectives

1. postpones the major costs associated with internationalizing a patent application

2. provides a strong basis for patenting decisions

3. harmonizes formal requirements

4. brings the world within reach

5. protects applicant from certain inadvertent errors

6. evolves to meet user needs

7. is used by the world’s major corporations, universities and research institutions when they seek international patent protection

8. allows applicants to apply securely and easily online, and to save money by doing so

The PCT, as the cornerstone of the international patent system, provides a worldwide system for simplified filing and processing of patent applications, which--

1. Postpones the major costs associated with internationalizing a patent application

Traditional patent systemvs.

PCT systemFees for:

--translations--Office fees--local agents

0 12

File local application

Fileapplications

abroad(months)

Traditional

(months)

File PCTapplication

12 30

International search report & written opinion

16 18


(optional)File




Enternationalphase

22 28


patentability

PCT 0

Fees for:

--translations--Office fees--local agents

PCT Costs--in perspective According to IP Global Estimator, the total cost of hypothetical application (RO/US, ISA/EP, 46 pages/12 claims w/3 independent, national phase in AU, CA, EPO, JP, MX, US, and EP

validation in DE, FR, GB, IT, NL & SE, + maintenance fees--from filing until expiration of 12 national phase patents at 20 years from the

filing date) would be USD $232,742

The PCT filing fees, including the international search by the EPO, (total: USD $3,637) represented 1.6% of what the PCT applicant could expect to pay throughout the full life of this patent family

If the payment of annual maintenance fees is eliminated from the above calculation, the total amount that the applicant would expect to pay to see his/her patents granted is reduced to USD $86,398. PCT filing fees would then represent 4.2% of this amount[Estimate date: July 1, 2007]

2. Provides a strong basis for patenting decisions

• The active ISAs are the following patent offices: – Australia– Austria– Canada– China– Finland– Japan– Republic of Korea– Russian Federation– Spain– Sweden– United States of America– European Patent Office– Nordic Patent Institute

• Appointed but not yet acting are the Offices of India and Brazil

The PCT International Searching Authorities

Documents relevant to whether or not your

invention may be patentable

Symbols indicatingwhich aspect of

patentability the document cited is

relevant to (for example, novelty, inventive step,

etc.)

The claim numbersin your application to

which the document isrelevant

Example: international search report

Example: written opinion of the ISA

Patentability assessment of claims

Reasoning supporting the

assessment

3. Harmonizes formal requirements

PCT Applicant’s Guide, paragraph 26: “There is a prescribed form for the international application. This form must be accepted by all designated Offices for the purposes of the national phase, so that there is no need to comply with a great variety of widely differing formal requirements in the many countries in which protection may be sought.”

PCT Article 27(1): “No national law shall require compliance with requirements relating to the form or contents of the international application different from or additional to those which are provided for in this Treaty and Regulations.”

4. Brings the world within reach

How?

PCT application = Legal effect of a regular national patentapplication in all PCT States

5. protects applicants from certain inadvertent errors

• invited corrections of defects & fee payments

• non-competent receiving Office

• double formality review

• restoration of priority

• missing parts

• rectification of obvious mistakes

• excuse of national phase entry delay

6. Evolves to meet user needs

(1) MIA meeting—annual (usually first quarter)

(2) PCT Working Group—annual (usually second quarter)

(3) PCT Assembly—September/October

(4) Conferences—for example:“PCT China”—Beijing, December 2007“PCT Asia”—Singapore, April 2008“PCT for the Americas”—Miami, November 2008

PCT Meetings

7. Is used by the world’s major corporations, universities and research institutions

when they seek international patent protection

Top PCT Applicants (2008)1. Huawei—CN (1737) 2. Panasonic—JP (1729)3. Philips—NL (1551)4. Toyota—JP (1364)5. Bosch—DE (1273)6. Siemens—DE (1089)7. Nokia—FI (1005)8. LG Electronics—KR (992)9. Ericsson—SE (984)10. Fujitsu—JP (983)11. Qualcomm—US (907)12. NEC—JP (825)13. Sharp—JP (814)14. Microsoft—US (805)15. Motorola— US (778)16. BASF—DE (721)17. IBM—US (664)18. 3M—US (663)19. Samsung—KR (639)20. Dupont—US (517)

Of the top 100 companies using the PCT system in 2008, 38 were from the United States, 28 from Japan and

13 from Germany

Other PCT users

Hitachi (JP)British Telecom (GB)MCI (US)

AT&T (US)

Boeing (US)McDonnell Douglas (US)

Nestle (CH)Novartis (CH)Colgate Palmolive (US)L’Oreal (FR)Rhone Poulenc (FR)Hoechst (US y DE)Glaxo (GB)Leica (CH)

Daimler Benz (DE)Volvo (SE)Ford (US)Nissan (JP)Renault (FR)Honda (JP)Kawasaki (JP)

Shell (NL)Elf (FR)

Salomon (FR)

CNRS (FR)

MIT (US)University of Texas (US)CalTech (US)Johns Hopkins(US)University of Michigan (US)Columbia University (US)Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (US)University of Florida (US)Stanford University (US)

8. apply securely and easily online, and save money by doing so

PCT Electronic filing overview1. Prepare application body: in XML using the PCT-SAFE Editor or in PDF

2. Prepare Request using free, WIPO-produced PCT-SAFE software

3. Electronically sign: WIPO Customer digital certificate or other

0101010

1010101

0101010Signat

ure

4. Transmit (on-line or on CD-R)

5. Receive a receipt (for on-line filings)

PCT E-filing fee reductions 100 Swiss francs: paper filings

request printout created with PCT-SAFE

diskette prepared with PCT- SAFE

100 Swiss francs: electronic filings request not in character coded format

(for ex., PDF)

200 Swiss francs: electronic filingstext of application not in character

coded format (for example, PDF)

300 Swiss francs: electronic filingstext of application in character coded

format (for example, XML)

(3) Recent and future developments

2009 PCT Developments• SIS (Supplementary International Search) effective January 1,

2009

The PCT System:Supplementary International Search

(months)

File PCTapplication

120 30


& written opinion

16 18


(optional)File




Enternationalphase

22 28


patentability

19

Request for Supplementary

International Search

Supplementary Search Reports

established

Supplementary International Search: Objectives

• give applicants option to request one or more supplementary (language-based) searches from participating ISAs in addition to the main PCT search

• help users by reducing likelihood of new prior art in national phase

• takes into account the growing linguistic diversity in the prior art

2009 PCT Developments• SIS (Supplementary International Search) effective January 1,

2009– First requests have been filed– 3 offices participating thus far

Supplementary International Search: Authorities • Participation of ISAs

– NPI—Jan. 1, 2009– RU—Jan. 1, 2009– SE—Jan. 1, 2009—limitation to 1000 Supp. Searches/year

– AT—sometime in 2009– AU—under consideration, but not as of Jan. 1, 2009– BR—not yet decided– CA—no intention to offer in near future– CN—under consideration– EPO—planned for Jan. 1, 2010, limited ìnitially to several 100s/year and

increased if needed up to several 1000s/year by 2013– ES—no intention– FI—planned for Jan. 1, 2010– IN—unknown– JPO—no intention– KR—under consideration– US—no intention in near future due to workload

Recent PCT developments• SIS (Supplementary International Search) effective January

1, 2009• 1 July 2009 Rule changes

– new practice on furnishing claim amendments (“complete set”)

– Administrative Instruction/practice changes on sequence listings

Things we’re working on

• Private file inspection– Document upload system pilot

• Furnishing priority documents via digital libraries– Digital Access Service for priority documents

• Email of IB notifications to applicants • PCT distance learning course• PCT webinars for the user community• New resources for PCT applicants• Multilingual terminology resources• PatentScope® enhancements

– Full file contents will be available for IAs filed on or after 1 Jan. 2009

– National phase entry data now for 34 countries

• For further information about the PCT, see

http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/

• For general questions about the PCT, contact the PCT Information Service at:

Telephone: (+41-22) 338 83 38

Facsimile: (+41-22) 338 83 39

E-mail: [email protected]

Where to get help

PatentScope®

Questions?

using the patent cooperation treaty (pct) as a strategic tool for business success may 20, 2009 2nd...

Documents

patent cooperation treaty

pct system

pct states

patent offices

months file pct application

wipo slide

patent system applicants

traditional patent system