Currently, there is no such thing as a ‘global’ or ‘worldwide’ patent. However, the PCT International system for Patents – the Patent Cooperation Treaty – provides a unified application procedure which includes the most relevant countries worldwide.

One of the PCT procedure’s biggest advantages is that a single international application will have coverage in all of the designated countries, unifying the procedure before one single office and substantially reducing the associated costs.

In addition, the possibility of extending the patent application’s protection offers the applicant the opportunity to reflect on where and how the patent has been filed, identifying possible market destinations, the possibility of finding partners (or licensees) or to evaluate the invention’s technical domain.

However, the PCT patent application is not a patent itself. After having finalised the international phase, it is then necessary to meet the necessary requirements of the national phase. These requirements will be established by each country where the patent’s protection has to be applied.

For the countries that are not part of this international treaty, patent protection should be requested directly via the national route.

Contact us to examine the most suitable strategy for your according to the type of protection your require.