China units or individuals must file international applications in accordance with the relevant international treaties to which China is a party; Where a China entity or individual files an international patent application for its invention and creation in China, it shall first file an application with the patent administration department of the State Council and entrust a foreign-related agency to handle it; The applicant shall abide by the confidentiality provisions, that is, if the invention-creation for which the patent is applied involves national security or vital interests and needs to be kept confidential, it shall be handled in accordance with the relevant provisions of the state.
Generally speaking, there are three ways to apply for an international patent, namely Paris Convention, PCT and EPC. Enterprises can comprehensively consider the advantages and disadvantages of various channels and choose the most suitable application channel according to their actual situation.
Frequently asked questions: Matters needing attention in patent application
1, the traditional way of Paris convention:
According to the provisions of the Paris Convention, if an invention wants to be patented in more than one country, the applicant can submit an application to the patent offices of several countries within 6 months or 12 months from the priority date. However, this method needs to submit application procedures in various countries and make application documents that meet the requirements of various countries, and applicants need to spend more time, energy and expenses.
2.EPC method:
Patent applicants have two ways to seek patent protection in Europe. Submit an application to the European National Patent Office or apply for a European patent through the European Patent Office (EPO). The European Patent Office grants patents on behalf of the member countries of the European Patent Committee. EPC, the abbreviation of EuropeanPatentConvention, was signed in Munich, Germany on June 5, 1973, also known as Munich Convention.
The Convention came into effect on 197717 October, with eight founding members, namely Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Sweden. On June 1978, the first European patent application was accepted. At present, there are 32 member countries in the EPC system, and at the same time, five countries recognize European patents although they have not joined the EPC system.
EPC is open to all European countries, and a European patent application can specify one or more EPC member countries. Once the application is approved by the European Patent Office, it will take effect in each designated country.
3.PCT method:
An international patent application is a patent application filed by an applicant with the Patent Office of a certain State Party in accordance with the prescribed procedures when a patent protection is granted to an invention in the State Party of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT for short).
The main purpose is to simplify the method of applying for invention patent protection established in several countries before, make it more effective and economical, and benefit the users of the patent system and the patent office that has the right to manage the system.
The above is a summary of the relevant ways to apply for international patents. I believe you can understand the relevant ways to apply for international patents. In addition, there are two ways to apply for an international patent. One is the applicant's own application, and the other is to choose an agent to apply. If you need an agent to apply for an agent, you may wish to go to the online customer service consultation of intellectual property!
International patent application for invention patent