PCT Patents General
*The PCT is an international treaty, administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), between more than 125 Paris Convention countries. The PCT makes it possible to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in each of a large number of countries by filing a single “international” patent application instead of filing several separate national or regional patent applications. The granting of patents remains under the control of the national or regional patent Offices in what is called the “national phase”.
Briefly, an outline of the PCT procedure includes the following steps:
Filing: you file an international application, complying with the PCT formality requirements, in one language, and you pay one set of fees.
International Search: an “International Searching Authority (ISA)” (one of the world’s major patent Offices) identifies the published documents which may have an influence on whether your invention is patentable and establishes an opinion on your invention’s potential patentability.
International Publication: as soon as possible after the expiration of 18 months from the earliest filing date, the content of your international application is disclosed to the world.
What are the advantages of the Patent Cooperation Treaty?
The procedure under the PCT has great advantages for you as an applicant, for the patent Offices and for the general public:
- you have up to 18 months more than if you had not used the PCT to reflect on the desirability of seeking protection in foreign countries, to appoint local patent agents in each foreign country, to prepare the necessary translations and to pay the national fees;
- you can rest assured that, if your international application is in the form prescribed by the PCT, it cannot be rejected on formal grounds by any PCT Contracting State patent Office during the national phase of the processing of the application;
- on the basis of the international search report and the written opinion, you can evaluate with reasonable probability the chances of your invention being patented;
- you have the possibility during the optional international preliminary examination to amend the international application and thus put it in order before processing by the various patent Offices;
- the search and examination work of patent Offices can be considerably reduced or eliminated thanks to the international search report, the written opinion and, where applicable, the international preliminary report on patentability that accompany the international application;
- since each international application is published together with an international search report, third parties are in a better position to formulate a well-founded opinion about the potential patentability of the claimed invention; and 15
- for you as an applicant, international publication puts the world on notice of your application, which can be an effective means of advertising and looking for potential licensees.
– Ultimately, the PCT:
– brings the world within reach;
– postpones the major costs associated with international patent protection;
– provides a strong basis for patenting decisions; and
– is used by the world’s major corporations, research institutions and
universities when they seek international patent protection.
*Taken directly from: http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/basic_facts/faqs_about_the_pct.pdf | 
40 años de experiencia 
