How to apply for an international patent

First, how to apply for an international patent Step 1: Submit an international application that meets the requirements of PCT format in one language and pay a set of fees. Step 2: International Search International Search Agency (ISA) (one of the world's major patent offices) searches for public documents that may affect the patentability of inventions and gives opinions on the patentability of inventions. Step 3: International Publicity The contents of the international application will be made public as soon as possible after the earliest application date 18 months expires. Step 4: Supplementary international retrieval (optional) is conducted by an international retrieval unit that is willing to provide supplementary retrieval but does not participate in the main retrieval, so as to find the published documents that have not been retrieved by the international retrieval unit that has conducted the main retrieval due to the diversity of existing technologies in the language and technical fields. Step 5: International Preliminary Examination (optional) After the international publication, at the request of the applicant (usually in the case of modifying the original application), the international retrieval unit will conduct additional patent analysis. Step 6: After the national PCT procedure is completed, the applicant begins to seek patent authorization directly from the patent office of the country (or region) that wishes to obtain a patent. 2. Under what circumstances is it appropriate to file an international application? An application submitted in the manner specified in PCT is called an international application. Generally speaking, an international application is a patent application filed by a resident or national of a PCT Contracting State to protect several Contracting States (usually in more than five designated countries). Individuals and units in China can still apply to foreign countries in accordance with the principles of the Paris Convention, in addition to applying for PCT. Especially when the applicant only needs to apply for a patent in one country or several countries, it is appropriate to use the Paris Convention. How to file an international application 1. First, apply for a patent in China. According to the relevant regulations, after an invention is made, an individual or unit in China can apply at home first, and claim the priority of applying for a foreign patent within 12 months; You can also submit an international application directly, but you must specify China and foreign countries in the application. 2. Preparation fee At present, each patent application needs to pay an average of 4000-5000 dollars in one country and 20000-25000 dollars in five countries; We also need to pay the fees for the international phase of PCT, including the transmission fee, retrieval fee and international preliminary examination fee of about 265,438+000 yuan charged by China Patent Office, and the basic fee, designation fee and handling fee of about 65,438+065,438+050 yuan charged by the International Bureau. If it is an international application filed by an individual from China; The fees charged by the International Bureau can be reduced by 75%. To sum up, international patents are very important to applicants. Applying for an international patent means that their products are protected by law, but the application also has strict requirements, and they must meet the requirements before they can apply. Therefore, it is best to consult the relevant departments when applying, so as to avoid wasting time later.