How to effectively use the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) to apply for patents abroad?

Apply for foreign patent directly through Paris Convention. China is a member of the Paris Pact. For China applicants, after applying for a patent in China, they can use the "priority principle" stipulated in the Paris Convention to enjoy the filing date of the earlier application. Within 12 months, inventions and utility models can be directly patented abroad within 6 months. After the expiration of the priority period, if the original application has not been made public, you can still apply for a foreign patent, but you no longer enjoy priority at this time.

2. Apply for foreign patent through PCT. China joined the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) on 1994 1 month 1. In this way, "one country applies and many countries are effective" can be achieved. This method is divided into international stage and national stage. 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 adoption of the Paris Convention, PCT application can delay the entry into foreign countries by 8 or 18 months, and the payment of foreign phase fees will be delayed accordingly. Obviously, the time for approval will be delayed accordingly.