Patent Guide: Foreign Filing

When you file a patent application in the United States, you have one year from your U.S. filing date to file in other countries while still keeping your original filing date. This one-year period is provided under the Paris Convention and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

1. Paris Convention Route

• Under the Paris Convention, you can file directly in each foreign country where you want protection within 12 months of your U.S. filing date.
• Each country’s patent office will examine your application separately, based on its own laws and procedures.
• This option may make sense if you know exactly which countries you want to file in and prefer to proceed directly.

 

2. Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Route

• Alternatively, you can file a PCT international application within that same 12-month period.
• The PCT does not itself grant an international patent, but it gives you a single filing that reserves your right to pursue patents in over 150 member countries.
• The PCT process includes:
  • An international search and written opinion assessing potential patentability.
  • An optional preliminary examination to further clarify patentability.
  • Later, you “enter the national phase” in individual countries (usually 30 or 31 months from your original U.S. filing date), where each office examines your application

 

3. Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)

• The Patent Prosecution Highway is a cooperation program among many patent offices.
• If one participating office (e.g., the USPTO) finds at least one claim to be allowable, you can request accelerated examination of the corresponding application in another participating country.
• This can significantly speed up the examination process and reduce costs, since the second office may rely on the earlier office’s work.