What are the ways to apply for foreign-related patents? Paris Pact approach
Most countries in the world are members of the Paris Convention. According to the provisions of the Paris Convention on priority, any member country can enjoy the priority of 12 months when applying to other member countries after applying for an invention or utility model, and the priority of 6 months when applying for a design. Any disclosure or use of the application during this period will not affect the novelty of the application.
Pct pathway
Patent Cooperation Treaty (pct) is a special treaty under the Paris Convention, which has reached 178 at present. According to the provisions of pct, a patent application filed in any pct member country can be regarded as an application filed in other designated member countries at the same time. It has realized the application in one country and is effective in many countries. The examination and approval procedure of pct application is divided into international stage and national stage. In the international stage, acceptance, publication, retrieval and preliminary examination are carried out, while in the national stage, examination and authorization are carried out by specific national bureaus. The time for pct application to enter a specific national phase is within 30 months from the date of application. In this way, when the applicant wants an invention to be protected by more than five countries (generally more than five), it is very suitable to use the pct approach. Because only one international application needs to be submitted to the Chinese Patent Office through the pct channel, it saves the trouble of submitting national applications to various countries, and has more time to consider which specific countries to enter eventually. Pct method is not suitable for design.
The applicant can judge the patentability (novelty, creativity and practicality) of the invention according to the existing technical data mentioned in the international search report and the international preliminary examination report, and can make appropriate amendments to the claim (if necessary), and then decide whether to enter the national procedure.
Apply directly to a foreign country without asking for priority. In addition, some countries or regions are not members of the Paris Convention and pct, and can only apply for patents according to the requirements of their own laws. For example, Taiwan Province Province is not a member of pct. Apply for a European patent through the regional treaty "Convention on the Granting of European Patents";
Up to now, the European Patent Convention has 27 contracting parties and 6 extension countries. Its patent right can be protected in more than 20 countries every 20 years from the date of application, which is convenient for management. If the applicant intends to apply for a patent in more than three European regions or countries, it will be faster and more economical to adopt this treaty than to apply to each contracting state one by one.
What documents should I submit to apply for a foreign-related patent?
1, power of attorney and entrustment contract
2. A list of entrustment, including the following contents: 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 date and number of the original application and the category of the patent application; 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, the 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.). ).
5. The expenses incurred by the applicant in filing a divisional request, reviewing and continuing the application. Or pay the annual fee, it shall be paid in advance. At that time, we will inform the customer of the payment amount and time limit.
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