International patenting is essential when a business enters the international market.
The leaders of such companies understand the importance of legal protection of their products in the territory where they will be sold.
The national patent laws do not provide for the concept of a single patent that ensures the protection of an intellectual property object in all countries of the world. Any patent applies to a specific territory of a country or region.
To protect intellectual property in the world, you can use the following systems.
National: The application is filed with the national patent office of each selected country in the required language, with the prescribed fees paid.
Regional: One application is filed for one regional patent and is valid for countries that have signed a regional treaty. Regional patents include European patent (for European countries), OAP and ARIPO patents (for African countries), Eurasian patent (for CIS countries).
International: International patenting for countries that have signed the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). According to this Agreement, the applicant submits one international application to a number of selected countries-participants of this agreement. The application goes through the international and national phases. During the national phase, the application will be subject to examination, the same as for any other national application.
Thus, if the applicant plans to patent in one or two foreign countries, it is optimal to file applications directly with foreign offices (national). If there are more than two patenting countries, then it is advisable to first file an international application under the international system.
When choosing countries for patenting, you should take into account that it is advisable to file applications mainly in those countries where you plan to implement your invention.
It is preferable to consider such countries as China, USA, Japan, Germany as priority countries for international patenting. These countries are leaders in the number of filed patent applications from different countries.
