What is the difference between PCT patent and international patent?

Strictly speaking, there is no concept of "international patent" because patents are regional and belong to different countries/regions. Therefore, there are China patents, American patents, European patents and other countries/regions. At present, there are usually two understandings of international patent: the narrow sense of international patent is "PCT international application", that is, PCT international patent application; In a broad sense, international patents can be understood as "foreign patents".

PCT is the abbreviation of patent cooperation treaty, and it is an international treaty for cooperation in patent field. Its purpose is to solve the problem of applying for a patent for the same invention in many countries and reduce the duplication of work between the applicant and the patent office. Under this background, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) was signed in Washington on June 1970, came into effect on June 1978 and was implemented in June of the same year. China joined the PCT on 1 99465438+1October1day. At the same time, China National Intellectual Property Administration, China, as an acceptance bureau, an international retrieval unit and an international preliminary examination unit, accepts international applications for PCT from citizens, residents and units in China. By March 20 17, the number of PCT member countries had increased to 152.

PCT is not a type of patent, but a way to apply for a patent. Therefore, the more correct statement should be "applying for a patent through PCT", that is, the PCT application for a patent. Because PCT application is divided into two stages: international stage and national stage, the international stage is often called "PCT international application".