The early application was a utility model. PCT can apply for invention patent when it enters the national stage, and it can obtain a longer protection period of invention patent.
2. According to the provisions of the Paris Convention, those who apply for a patent in other countries within 12 months from the date of application for invention or utility model can enjoy priority. Design for 6 months.
The utility model can basically be authorized within 8 months.
3. number three. PCT applications are for different countries, and the applicants can be different (for the United States, the applicants must be inventors). However, if priority is required, it is necessary to provide proof that the applicant enjoys priority.
A PCT patent application has to go through the international stage and the national stage. International applications must first be examined at the international stage and then at the national stage. The filing of the application, international search and international preliminary examination are completed in the international stage, and whether to grant the patent right is completed in the national stage by the designated national bureau. The first stage of PCT international patent application is the international stage. It includes the necessary procedures of international application acceptance, formal examination, international retrieval and international publication, as well as optional international preliminary examination procedures.
In the international stage, the international application filed by individuals or units in China to the China Patent Office is handled by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization, and all other procedures are carried out in the China Patent Office.
1. Accept the patent application and examine the patentability of the patent.
The PCT Acceptance Bureau will formally review the accepted PCT application documents, and send the international PCT application documents to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization and the international retrieval unit respectively after passing the examination.
2. International search
After the PCT patent application is submitted, the Patent Office of the receiving country, as an international search unit, will search the PCT patent application and make an international search report within the specified time.
Among them, after the submission of the international retrieval PCT patent application, China Patent Office, as an international retrieval unit, will search the PCT patent application and make an international retrieval report within the specified time. The search report will be sent to the PCT patent applicant and the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization as soon as possible within the specified time.
After 18 months from the date of international application (or priority date), the International Bureau will publish the PCT international patent application and the search report made by the international search unit, and send the application together with the search report to the patent office of the designated country required by the PCT patent application.
3. International preliminary examination
The Patent Cooperation Treaty stipulates that the international preliminary examination procedure is not mandatory. If the countries participating in the treaty are bound by Chapter II of the PCT, the applicant may request the international preliminary examination unit to conduct an international preliminary examination of its application.
The purpose of international preliminary examination is to put forward preliminary opinions on whether the invention is novel, creative and practical. This review opinion is not binding on all "designated countries". The standard stipulated by PCT is the current international standard, and the review opinions are made by a few international preliminary examination units on the basis of international search, so the report should be reliable and credible.
When participating in patent cooperation treaties, some countries are not bound by Chapter II of PCT. When the applicant requests the international preliminary examination, he can only select some countries that use the results of the international preliminary examination from the designated countries bound by Chapter II of the PCT, and these countries are called "selected countries".
After examining the international application as an international preliminary examination unit, China Patent Office submits the international preliminary examination report to the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization, which forwards it to the applicant, and the International Bureau also sends the international preliminary examination report to the "selected country" for application.
The applicant can decide whether to enter the national phase (apply to other countries) in the next step according to the international search report made by China Patent Office and the results of international preliminary examination. The process of entering the national phase will not happen automatically and must be initiated by the applicant. The applicant must go through the formalities of entering the national phase of the designated country (or selected country) within 30 months (in some countries, it may be 20 months) from the priority date: pay the national fee and submit the translation of the international application translated into the national language. The national laws and regulations of some countries stipulate that the time limit for entering the national phase is later than 30 months (or 20 months). Even if the international preliminary review report has not been obtained, the time limit for entering the national phase must be observed. In the international phase, there is no international application requiring international preliminary examination within 19 months from the priority date, and the time limit for entering the national phase (designated bureau) is 20 months from the priority date; An international application requiring international preliminary examination shall be filed within 19 months from the priority date.
The national phase is held in the patent office of the country where the applicant wishes to obtain the patent right. He includes going through the formalities of entering the national phase and going through the examination and approval procedures at the designated or selected bureaus.
After entering the national stage, it is necessary to submit the translation of international application documents (the official language of the country) and pay the prescribed national fees according to the regulations of various countries. Then, the patent offices of various countries will review according to the provisions of their own patent laws and regulations and decide whether to grant the patent right.