Step 2: International Search International Search Agency (ISA) (one of the world's major patent offices) searches for public documents that may affect the patentability of inventions and gives opinions on the patentability of inventions.
Step 3: International Publicity The contents of the international application will be made public as soon as possible after the earliest application date 18 months expires.
Step 4: Supplementary international search (optional)
Step 5: International Preliminary Examination (optional) After the international publication, at the request of the applicant (usually in the case of modifying the original application), the international retrieval unit will conduct additional patent analysis.
Step 6: After the national PCT procedure is completed, the applicant begins to seek patent authorization directly from the patent office of the country (or region) that wishes to obtain a patent.
Legal basis: Article 29 of the Patent Law of People's Republic of China (PRC). Where an applicant files a patent application for an invention or utility model in China within 12 months from the date when a foreign country first filed a patent application, or within 6 months from the date when a foreign country first filed a patent application for a design, it may enjoy priority according to the agreement signed between the foreign country and China or the international treaties to which * * * is a party, or according to the principle of mutual recognition of priority.