I. Applying for foreign patents through the Paris Convention
Benefits available to the applicant
An important principle of the Paris Convention is the "priority principle", that is, after an applicant applies for an invention-creation for the first time in any member country of the Convention, the same applicant can also apply for the same invention-creation in other member countries within a specific period (that is, the priority period: 6 months for design and/or 0/2 months for invention or utility model). The latter application is considered to be the same as the first application. The establishment of the priority principle has brought great convenience to the applicant. The applicant may have 6 months or 12 months to decide whether to apply for a foreign patent after the application is filed by a member state. Once the applicant decides to apply for a foreign patent, he may file an application within the above-mentioned time limit and claim priority.
Matters needing attention
1. According to Article 20 of China's Patent Law, if an applicant applies for a foreign patent, he shall first file a patent application with the China Patent Office, and then apply for a foreign patent.
2. An applicant who applies for a foreign patent within the priority period may enjoy the priority of the original patent application in China. If the original China patent application has exceeded the priority period but has not been made public, you can also apply for a foreign patent before it is made public, but you will no longer enjoy priority.
If the applicant intends to entrust me to apply for a foreign patent, it is best to go through the entrustment formalities two months before the expiration of the priority period, so as to avoid increasing the application fee because of the tight time.
2. Apply for foreign patent through PCT.
Benefits available to the applicant
1. Applicants can apply at the last minute. Since PCT applications can be submitted in Chinese, applicants can file applications at the last moment of the priority period.
2. The applicant can get the search report about 9 months from the application date or about 16 months from the priority date. The applicant may also obtain the international preliminary examination report within 28 months from the date of application or the priority date (if the applicant requests the international preliminary examination within the prescribed time limit). The applicant can judge the patentability (novelty, creativity and practicality) of the invention according to the existing technical data mentioned in the above two reports, and can make appropriate amendments to the claim (if necessary), and then decide whether to enter the national procedure.
3. Compared with the way of applying for foreign patents directly through the Paris Convention, PCT application can delay the entry into the national phase by 8 months or 18 months, which is undoubtedly beneficial to those applicants who are not ready. In addition, the payment of the national stage fee was delayed by 8 months or 18 months.
Matters needing attention
According to Article 20 of China's Patent Law, if an applicant applies for a foreign patent, he shall first file a patent application with the China Patent Office, and then apply for a foreign patent.
2. Applicants can apply for Chinese and foreign patents through PCT. According to the detailed rules for the implementation of the Patent Law of China, if an applicant files a PCT international application for the first time, the designated country of the application shall include China.
3. If the applicant intends to entrust our company to handle the PCT patent application, it is best to handle the entrustment formalities two months before the expiration of the priority period, so as to avoid increasing the application fee due to time constraints.
3. Documents to be signed or provided when applying for a foreign patent.
65438+
2. Power of attorney, including the following information: the name and address of the applicant (in Chinese and English); Name and address of the inventor (in Chinese and English); Category of patent application; Applicant country; The original application date, application number and patent application category; Whether priority is required; Whether to submit a request for substantive examination at the same time as the application, etc.
3. The original China patent application request, acceptance notice and original patent application documents (including instructions, claims, drawings and abstracts).
4. Existing technical data (patent documents, scientific and technological documents closely related to the invention known by the applicant, etc.). ).