First of all, units or individuals in China can file patent applications with member countries of the Paris Convention, because China is a member country of the Paris Convention and can apply for patents with other member countries according to the provisions of the Paris Convention. After receiving a patent application from a unit or individual in China, the applicant country will accept the patent application according to its own patent law and decide whether to grant the patent right. Secondly, if a unit or individual in China applies for a patent to a non-Paris Convention member country, it can go through the corresponding formalities according to the bilateral agreement concluded between China and that country; If there is no bilateral agreement between China and the respondent country, we can only see whether the patent law of that country allows units or individuals in China to apply for patents.
2. Submit an international application to the International Bureau of Patent Cooperation Agreement (PCT)
PCT is a special international treaty managed by the World Property Organization, which makes uniform provisions on the acceptance and examination of international applications. Within the scope of contracting States, as long as the applicant submits an international application in one country, its effect is equivalent to submitting a patent application to other countries specified in the application at the same time. International application procedures are divided into "international stage" and "domestic stage". Because the patent administration department in China is not only the international application acceptance unit designated by PCT, but also the international retrieval and international preliminary examination unit, it is very convenient for China units or individuals to apply for patents in other countries. When applying, both Chinese and English are acceptable. International patent applications submitted through PCT can be divided into international phase and national phase. In the international application stage, China applicants can submit their applications in Chinese, and when submitting their applications, they must specify the country (designated country) where the application is valid. The national phase refers to the formalities for entering the national phase within 20 or 30 months from the date of international application (or priority date). Compared with the Paris Convention, PCT application can delay the entry into foreign countries by 8 months or 18 months, and the payment of foreign phase fees will be delayed accordingly. Obviously, its approval time will be delayed accordingly. The applicant shall prepare the corresponding application documents, including: a list of application materials (samples provided by the agency, indicating the application items, applicant information, application country and submission time limit, etc. ); Relevant materials of previous application (if any); Existing technical data related to the patent application (if any); Power of attorney or small business statement signed by the applicant, etc. In terms of cost, it is necessary to prepare enough funds in a short time to apply for foreign patents directly through the Paris Convention, which is generally 50,000-60,000 yuan/country to support them.
Pay foreign official fees, attorney fees, domestic agency fees and translation fees; Through the PCT channel, about 65,438+0.65,438+00,000 yuan (the applicant is an individual) or 26,5438+00,000 yuan (the applicant is a legal person) must be prepared at the time of application to pay the official expenses and agency fees of the international phase, and another 50,000-60,000 yuan/country.