International Patent Application

Contacts

The contracting states to the Washington Treaty have formed a union for cooperation in the filing, searching and examination of patent applications for invention. The P.C.T. (Patent Cooperation Treaty) international patent procedure facilitates obtaining patent protection in the contracting states by filing a single international application having the same effect as a regular filing in each designated state. 


The P.C.T. procedure, consisting of an International Phase and a subsequent Regional Phase, does not eliminate the need to continue the patent granting process in the individual national offices but facilitates it in many respects.


Rely on our experts not only to help you with your Italian patent application or European patent filing, but also with international procedures.


  • International patent

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International stage


The International Phase begins with the filing by the applicant of a single international patent application, which may be done directly or, alternatively, within the priority period of 12 months from the filing of the relevant basic national application. At the time of such an international filing, all P.C.T. Contracting States are automatically designated. This designation is in no way binding as the Applicant is not committed to carrying out the extension in all designated States, but only in those that, at the start of the Regional Phase, it considers to be of interest to it. The international phase continues with the execution, by authoritative competent bodies, of a worldwide prior art search on the state of the art (for Italy the search is carried out by the European Patent Office). 




The body that conducted the search, together with the issuance of the search report, also sends the applicant a preliminary judgement of patentability of the invention, expressing an opinion on the presence of the requirements of novelty and inventive step. This preliminary judgement allows the applicant to evaluate the possibility of continuing the procedure, if there are the prerequisites for the granting of a valid patent, or of abandoning it, with the consequent waiver of the relative patent rights. The international phase ends with the publication of the P.C.T. international patent application and at the same time the search report (not the preliminary judgement of patentability) The P.C.T. procedure, after the search report is issued, provides for : 



a) the continuation of the international phase, which consists in the request for the activation of an international preliminary examination to be carried out within 3 months from the receipt of the search report, or within 22 months from the date of priority if this deadline expires later, which consists in an adversarial process with the Examiner, for the purpose of making the necessary amendments to the text of the international application in order to arrive at the issuance of a positive judgement of patentability, in the light of the prior art resulting from the search report. 



The initiation of this phase is at the discretion of the applicant, it is therefore optional and its activation is strongly linked to the content of the documents resulting from the Search Report, in comparison with the technical solution of the patent application subject matter of the procedure. In any case, the international examination phase ends with the start of the regional/national phases, which generally takes place within 30 months from the priority date (31 months for the regional phase relating to the European Patent). 



b) the direct start, without the filing of the request for preliminary examination, of the regional/national phases generally within 30 months from the priority date by filing translations of the international patent application in the official languages of each individual country (national phase) or organisation (regional phase), payment of the prescribed fees and election of a professional representative for each State of interest to the Applicant, chosen from among those designated at the time of filing.

Regional / national stages


Following the activation of the national/regional phases, the patent granting procedure continues before the individual Patent Offices of the designated countries/organisations. The individual Patent Offices, after determining whether or not the patentability requirements are met, will grant or refuse corresponding national patents following the procedural steps dictated by the laws of the individual countries/organisations.

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