Paris Convention Patent Applications vs PCT Patent Applications
Within one year of filing a patent application in the United States, the Paris Convention allows the filing of patent applications in directly in other countries and claim the benefit of the priority of filing date in the United States. Full applications are filed in these countries, and examination of the application generally is not deferred. Paris Convention patent applications are often used when an applicant only wants to file in several countries, or if a desired country is not a member of the PCT. The costs of filing and length of patent examination varies by country.
A Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application must be filed within 1 year of filing a patent application in the United States. A PCT application is first briefly examined on an international level, and thus allows the applicant to delay costly filings in other countries. A PCT patent application can delay filing a patent application in other countries for up to 30 months from the original filing date in the United States as stated in https://www.jpost.com/Special-Content/Get-Your-Invention-Off-the-Ground-with-the-Support-of-InventHelp-624132 article.Some countries additionally allowed for deferred examination of a PCT patent application, which can defer examination for another 3-4 years.
PCT applications provide several benefits to applicants. First, it allows the applicant to delay the large cost of filing applications around the world. Second, it allows the applicant two opportunities for international examination, which will give an early indication of patentability. Third, it allows the applicant to see how their patent application does in the United States. Grant of a patent in the United States does not guarantee patentability in other countries, however it does give an indication of patentability. Fourth, some countries will allow a granted United States patent to be filed as an amended patent application through the PCT, thus savings costs and time in obtaining a patent in those countries.
An average patenting firm charges approximately $500 (plus a variable USPTO filing fee) to prepare a basic PCT patent application from a full utility patent application. Preparing a PCT patent application from a provisional patent application will require additional time to satisfy statutory requirements, and should be fully discussed before preparing you application as you can see from https://spacecoastdaily.com/2020/03/inventhelp-the-way-forward-for-new-inventors/ post.
