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Recent and future developments in the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) 2013 AIPLA Annual Meeting Matthew Bryan, Director, PCT Legal Division, WIPO October 24-26, 2013
Recent and future developments in the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
2013 AIPLA Annual Meeting
Matthew Bryan, Director, PCT Legal Division, WIPO
October 24-26, 2013
PCT Coverage Today
=PCT
Albania
Algeria
AngolaAntigua and BarbudaArmenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahrain Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana Brazil
Brunei DarussalamBulgaria
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Canada
Central African Republic
ChadChileChina Colombia Comoros Congo
Costa RicaCôte d'IvoireCroatiaCubaCyprusCzech RepublicDemocratic People's Republic of KoreaDenmarkDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial Guinea EstoniaFinlandFrance,
GabonGambiaGeorgia GermanyGhana GreeceGrenadaGuatemalaGuinea
Guinea-Bissau HondurasHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIran (Islamic Republic of)
(4 Oct. 2013)Ireland IsraelItalyJapanKazakhstanKenyaKyrgyzstanLao People’s Dem Rep.Latvia Lesotho LiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtenstein LithuaniaLuxembourgMadagascar
MalawiMalaysiaMaliMaltaMauritaniaMexicoMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMoroccoMozambiqueNamibia NetherlandsNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNorwayOmanPanamaPapua New GuineaPeruPhilippines
PolandPortugalQatarRepublic of Korea Republic of MoldovaRomaniaRwandaRussian FederationSaint LuciaSaint Vincent and the Grenadines San MarinoSao Tomé e PrincipeSaudi Arabia (3 Aug. 2013)SenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSlovakiaSloveniaSouth AfricaSpainSri LankaSudanSwaziland
St. Kitts and NevisSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTajikistan ThailandThe former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia TogoTrinidad and Tobago TunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited Republic of TanzaniaUnited States of AmericaUzbekistanViet NamZambiaZimbabwe
148 PCT States
UN States not yet in PCTAfghanistanAndorraArgentinaBahamasBangladeshBhutanBoliviaBurundiCambodiaCape VerdeDemocratic Republic of
CongoDjiboutiEritreaEthiopiaFijiGuyanaHaiti
IraqJamaicaJordanKiribatiKuwaitLebanonMaldivesMarshall IslandsMauritiusMicronesiaMyanmarNauruNepalPakistanPalauParaguaySamoaSolomon Islands
SomaliaSouth SudanSurinameTimor-LesteTongaTuvaluUruguayVanuatuVenezuelaYemen
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Recent/future PCT developments (1)PCT Assembly October 2013 New PCT Regulation amendments for 2014
2 sets of amendments approved by PCT Assembly 2013
Amend PCT Rules 66 and 70 to require IPEAs to conduct top-up searches during IPE
Delete PCT Rule 44ter and amend PCT Rule 94 to make WO/ISA available to the public via PATENTSCOPE at international publication
These amendments enter into force July 1, 2014, for IAs for which a demand for IPE has been filed on or after that date, and for IAs filed on or after that date, respectively
New ISA Ukraine
ePCT-Filing Availability as of October 11, initially for RO/IB filings
Improvement on PCT-SAFE software
No software to install—functions in standard browser Application being drafted can be securely shared by users in
different locations, for joint preparation and checking
Recent/future PCT developments (2)ePCT-Filing (cont.) Validations always up to date, and done in real time; more
validations than PCT-SAFE, including previewing converted images Create and share address books—existing PCT-SAFE address
books can be uploaded Immediately view documents and data on IB file Latin language filings (including English) accepted (Russian and
Asian languages coming); 10 language system interface under preparation
Ready to open to other ROs when they are ready to accept
America Invents Act (AIA) Simplification for PCT Apparently resulting in # of cases without applicant from PCT state
Misleading invitations 1st criminal prosecution (CZ)
Circulars PCT fee reductions ePCT Filing (and mentions eventual sunset of PCT-SAFE software)
Recent/future PCT developments (3)Quality IAs working on “PCT Metrics Framework” Collaborative search
Anticipating PCT WG 2014 More concrete “PCT-Kaizen” proposals from JPO Revised USPTO/UK-IPO “20-20” proposals Fees
New PCT training videosWIPO considering series of awareness-raising “WIPO Service Seminars” in US in 2014—suggestions as to cities/regions/partners?
ePCT: future improvementsAiming to offer fully hosted e-filing service by end 2014 to ROs who would like to have us do that for themMultilingual interface (eventually 10 languages)Extension of ePCT to interested Offices in their various capacities (RO, ISA, SISA, IPEA, DO, EO) has started, including hosting on behalf of offices, and 2-way communicationGoal to offer centralized real-time credit card transactions for all fee types and all authoritiesNational phase entry function could be added to ePCT Opt-in for DOs Applicant could select from among participating DOs, upload any
necessary documents and add any bibliographic data not already available to IB
Local counsel could be fully involved, as needed Would not initially include fee payment facility, but this could be added
in the future Positive reaction during an initial discussion at Feb. 2013 IP5 meeting
For further information about the PCT, see
http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/
WIPO website is being significantly revised, and PCT portion is also being restructured
For general questions about the PCT, contact the PCT Information Service at:
Telephone: (+41-22) 338 83 38
Facsimile: (+41-22) 338 83 39
E-mail: [email protected]
PCT Resources/Information
