It is not enough to have chinese patents when your products are ready to go to sea and technology is on the international market. You need patent protection in the united states, europe, japan, etc. However, if each country submitted a single application, it would be costly, cumbersome processes and time pressure to complete decision-making within 12 months. At that point, pct patent applications were the preferred of many enterprises. So, what the hell is pct? Does it really fit all the companies? This is for your sake。
I. What is pct? Not “international patent”, but “international application channel”
Pct is the abbreviation of the patent cooperation treaty, managed by the world intellectual property organization (wipo). It is not an institution that grants “international patents”, because there is no “a general international patent”. The pct provides a unified set of international application procedures that, by submitting an international pct application, can at the same time claim priority in all pct member states (currently more than 150 countries) and allow time for enterprises to follow up into national stages。
In short, pct is a “highway entrance” to multinational patent protection, not a terminal。
Ii. Basic process for pct patent applications (four steps)
Step 1: submission of an application from china (priority basis)
Before submitting an application for pct, a chinese patent application (inventory or practical novelty) would normally need to be submitted to the state intellectual property administration of china (cnipa) as a priority basis。
Step 2: submission of pct international applications
Within 12 months from the date of the first application by china, cpt international applications are submitted to cnipa or wipo, paying international application fees, search fees, etc. The application is assigned an international application number。
Step 3: international access and written comments
The pct board designates international search units (usually cnipa or the european patent office, etc.) to retrieve existing technologies and provides a written opinion giving a preliminary assessment of the novelty, creativity and industrial utility of patents. This phase allows the applicant to be informed in advance of the future of the authorization and to decide whether to continue to enter the country。
Step 4: entering the national stage
Within 30 months from the date of priority (some countries have a grace period), applicants are required to select the country or region (e. G., united states, europe, japan, republic of korea, etc.) where they specifically wish to obtain patent protection and to submit translations, local fees and agency fees to their respective patent offices for independent review and authorization by states。
Iii. Pct patent advantages and limitations
Strengths:
Sufficient time: increased access to national decision-making from 12 to 30 months, and sufficient time for enterprises to assess market and technology value。
Cost-sharing: an international application fee will be paid in the prior period, and countries will be selected at a later stage on the basis of actual needs, avoiding the blindly costly costs of translation and foreign representation。
More transparent information: international access to reports and written comments allows you to know in advance the possibility of patent authorization and thus not to go into your mind。
Simplified form requirements: one application, one language (optional in chinese or english), one format, uniform processing。
Limitations:
Not to authorize: the pct itself does not grant patent rights, but ultimately requires individual reviews by patent offices。
Costs remain modest: translation costs, foreign agency fees and official costs may total tens to hundreds of thousands of yuan/country when entering the national phase in several countries, although the upfront period is relatively cheap。
It would not be appropriate to sell only one country: it might be more cost-effective to apply directly through the paris pact alone if the product was intended for one or two foreign markets。
Iv. Which industries are pct patents suitable for
Pct applications are particularly suitable for industries with complex technologies, high r & d inputs and market-oriented multinationals. These include, inter alia:
Communications and information technology: 5g, goods networking, artificial intelligence algorithms, software architecture, etc. The high degree of globalization and the rapid technological overlap in these areas require that patents be posted in major markets as soon as possible。
Biomedicine and medical devices: new medicines, gene sequences, diagnostic equipment, high-value consumables. Multinational clinical trials and market access are required for long-term research and development of pharmaceutical products, and the 30-month period provided by pct coincides with this pace。
New energy and environmental technologies: lithium batteries, photovoltaic components, hydrogen energy, carbon capture, etc. China is globally competitive in these areas, with a large number of enterprises out of the sea, and pct applications effectively protect core technologies。
High-end equipment and intelligent manufacturing: industrial robotics, digital control systems, 3d printing, etc. Such equipment is often sold or installed in several countries and requires local patents to defend rights。
Electronics and consumer goods: smartphone parts, smart homes, drones, etc. Consumer e-updates are fast, but core structural innovation is worth multinational protection through pct。
Why pct professional services? Take, for example, the greatest intellectual property rights
The pct application relates to chinese law, the pct rules and the law of the target country, and is complex and time-bound. A small translation deviation or missed deadline could lead to loss of rights in the target country. As a professional pct patent service company, the hwang-shin intellectual property rights (ips) provide the following core values to enterprises:
Pre-strategy consultation: your technology and market export plans will be evaluated by the patent agent of the fai shing, to help you decide: are you really going to take the pct? Or the paris pact route? Which countries are recommended for entry? Which claims are more favourable to adoption by states
Professional document writing and translation: the quality of the pct international application documents directly influences the advantages of international access to reports. Fao-fing was able to write or translate applications in chinese and english and to adapt to the characteristics of patent reviews in various countries。
Duration and process monitoring: 12 months, 16 months, 18 months, 30 months from the date of priority each node is specifically reminded and assists in completing all the formalities required to enter the national stage of each state。
Foreign agency interface: china has a stable network of foreign cooperation law firms that are able to target country agents with high customer screening value and professional counterparts and coordinate communication to reduce the middle。
Cost budget management: helps enterprises to pay their fees in stages in accordance with actual budget and market needs, avoiding large one-time expenditures。
The pct patent application is an important legal tool for enterprises to move towards international markets, but it is not a panacea and requires a combination of technology, markets and finance. With professional pct experience, the queen's intellectual property rights can help you to pave the way for patents in overseas markets at reasonable cost and efficiency. If you are considering moving technology to the global level, you might wish to start with a pct consultation。
