What is the function of PCT international patent application?

An international patent application is a patent application filed by an applicant with the patent office of a certain state party in accordance with the prescribed procedures when a state party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) obtains patent protection for an invention. The main purpose of PCT is to simplify the previously established method of applying for invention patent protection in several countries, make it more effective and economical, and benefit the users of the patent system and the patent office that has the right to manage the system. Before the introduction of the PCT system, the only way for several countries to protect inventions was to submit applications to each country separately; Since these applications must be processed separately, the application and review of each country must be repeated. In order to achieve its due purpose, PCT proposes:-to establish an international system to make the patent application (international application) filed in the patent office (receiving office) in one language valid for every PCT member country (designated by the applicant) in its application; -The Patent Office, that is, the receiving office, can conduct formal examination of international applications; -Conduct an international search for international applications, and issue a search report explaining relevant existing technologies (published patent documents related to past inventions), which can be used as a reference when deciding whether an invention can be patented; The search report should be delivered to the applicant first, and then published; -make a unified international announcement on the international application and its related international search report and send it to the designated bureau. -To provide the Patent Office with the option of international preliminary examination of international applications to decide whether to grant a patent right, and to provide the applicant with a report, which includes the viewpoint of whether the claimed invention meets the international standard of patentability. Editing this PCT has brought the following benefits to patent applicants: First, you can apply for a patent in many countries only by submitting an international patent application, instead of submitting a patent application to each country separately, which provides convenience for patent applicants to apply for a patent in foreign countries; 2. When a foreign country files an ordinary patent application, the patent applicant must file a patent application with the patent offices of various countries within 12 months from the date of filing the patent application for the first time. Through PCT, the patent applicant can go through the formalities of international patent application entering each country within 20 months after filing the patent application for the first time; If it is necessary to conduct international preliminary examination, you can also go through the formalities for international patent application to enter various countries within 30 months from the date of filing the patent application for the first time. This has prolonged the time to enter the national stage. During this period, the patent applicant can investigate the market, the commercial prospect of the invention and other factors, and decide whether to continue to apply for foreign patents, and then spend a lot of money to enter the national stage. You can save money if you decide not to apply for a patent abroad after investigation. Three, the international patent application shall go through the international search of international search units, and obtain high-quality international search reports. The international search report gives one or more existing technical documents, so that the patent applicant can not only know the status of the existing technology, but also preliminarily judge whether the invention has the prospect of granting a patent. If the international application passes the international preliminary examination, the patent applicant can also get a high-standard international preliminary examination report made by the international preliminary examination unit. If the international preliminary examination report shows that the invention does not have novelty, creativity and industrial practicability, the patent applicant may consider not entering the national phase again in order to save costs; If the international preliminary examination report shows that the invention is novel. Creativity and industrial practicality, patent applicants may obtain "strong" patents, thus considering entering the national stage. 4. Only the patent application fee needs to be paid to the acceptance bureau, not to the patent offices of all countries that require patent protection, which simplifies the payment procedures. In some countries, the national cost of international patent application is lower than that of ordinary application. Six, the language of the international patent application can be Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, etc. China applicants can apply for international patents in both Chinese and English, which provides convenience for foreign-funded enterprises in China to apply for patents.