Legal Definitions - international application

An international application, most commonly filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), is a single patent application that allows an inventor or company to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in a large number of countries. Instead of filing separate national patent applications in each desired country right away, an international application provides a streamlined process and a unified filing date. This gives the applicant more time to decide which specific countries to pursue national patents in, while preserving their priority rights globally.

• Imagine a startup tech company in Silicon Valley develops a groundbreaking artificial intelligence algorithm that significantly improves data processing speed. They want to protect this invention in the United States, Europe, Japan, and China. Instead of filing four separate national patent applications immediately, they file a single international application under the PCT. This allows them to secure an early filing date across all these regions and gives them up to 30 months to decide which specific countries to enter the national patent phase, providing time to assess market potential and secure funding.

• An independent inventor in Canada creates a novel, energy-efficient design for a household appliance. Believing it has global market potential, she wants to protect her invention in Canada, the United States, and several European countries. By filing an international application, she establishes a priority date for her invention in all designated countries with a single filing. This simplifies the initial application process and gives her valuable time to conduct market research, find potential licensees, and prepare for the more complex and costly national phase applications in her chosen countries.

• A large pharmaceutical company based in Germany discovers a new compound with promising therapeutic effects for a rare disease. To protect their significant research and development investment, they need patent protection in major markets worldwide, including the European Union, the United States, Brazil, India, and Australia. They file an international application, which serves as a placeholder for their invention in all these territories. This allows them to conduct further clinical trials and regulatory approvals, while maintaining their patent rights globally, before committing to the expense of filing individual national patent applications in each country.