A Guide to the Main WIPO Services
WIPO is the global forum for intellectual property services, policy, information
and cooperation.
WIPO services provide efficient and cost-effective solutions across the entire
intellectual property life cycle, helping you to:
– protect inventions, trademarks, designs and geographical indications
internationally;
– resolve intellectual property and domain name disputes; and
– access global intellectual property data.
Introduction
Globalization and recent technological advances have provided even the
smallest of enterprises with unprecedented access to export markets, offering
a world of opportunity for smart organizations. However, operating in
international markets means competing on the world stage.
In this environment, intellectual property is more important than ever. The
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) supports organizations
around the world, from multinational corporations to small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs), through its extensive range of global intellectual property
(IP) services. Whether you are a multinational business or an individual, WIPO
services provide efficient and cost-effective solutions to meet your IP needs
throughout the intellectual property life cycle.
These services include:
– WIPO global databases which make it easy for anyone, anywhere, to
access the wealth of information in the IP system, and thus support all other
IP activities;
– WIPO global services for cost-effective and efficient protection of IP
including patents, trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications
across borders, thereby protecting business investment in innovation; and
– the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, which provides neutral,
international and non-profit dispute resolution services tailored for IP and
technology disputes in a time- and cost-efficient manner.
This brochure offers an overview of the main WIPO services.
Further information and contact details can be found at
[Link]
Patent Cooperation Treaty PCT) – The International Patent System
What is a patent?
A patent is a legal right protecting an invention, which provides a new and
inventive technical solution to a problem. The owner of a patent has the right
to stop others from commercially exploiting the protected invention, for
example by making, using, importing or selling it, in the country or region in
which the patent has been granted.
Patent protection helps to differentiate your inventive products and services in
the marketplace as it inhibits competitors from simply copying them. In turn,
this helps to drive higher sales and support increased profit margins, allowing
investment costs to be recovered.
Patent protection may be obtained for products, for example a new bottle
opener, or processes, for example a new process for making a chemical
compound. Patents may be used to protect inventions in any field of
technology, from everyday kitchen utensils to nanotechnology chips. In fact,
most patents aren’t granted for ground-breaking scientific breakthroughs, but
for improvements to existing technologies, for example improvements that
allow a product to work more efficiently or cost-effectively. Moreover, a
product such as a smartphone may contain a number of inventions, each of
which is protected by a separate patent.
A brief overview of the PCT system
The PCT system provides a cost-effective process for seeking patent
protection multinationally which has numerous benefits for applicants. With
just one PCT application, you can seek patent protection in more than 150
countries instead of filing a separate application directly in each country. It
should be noted that the PCT System itself does not grant patents, and
international patents do not exist; the granting of patents is up to each country
or region.
The process under the PCT System is split into two phases. In the
“international phase,” you file your application with either your national patent
office, a regional patent office or the International Bureau of WIPO. It is
checked to make sure it complies with certain formal requirements, and an
international search is performed to provide an initial assessment of the
potential patentability of your invention. Unless you decide to withdraw your
application, it is published along with the international search report. During
this phase, you can also request an optional supplementary international
search and/or an international preliminary examination, which can provide
more information about the potential patentability of your invention.
If you wish, you can then have your application proceed to the “national
phase,” by sending a translation of your application (where necessary) to the
patent office of each of the countries or regions in which you wish to seek
patent protection and paying the required fees. Each national or regional office
determines whether to grant you a patent in accordance with its own law,
taking into account the relevant documents discovered during the international
phase.
The PCT System itself does not grant patents; that is up to each country or
region. However, it does provide important advantages in terms of timing,
information on the potential patentability of your invention and ease of
management that cannot be achieved by filing separate patent applications
directly in each desired country or region.
Who uses the PCT system?
The PCT is used by the world’s major corporations, research institutions and
universities as well as by individuals and small and medium- sized
enterprises.
Key advantages of using a PCT application
1. Keep your options open. The PCT system allows you to delay the
decision of where to ultimately seek patent protection – in which countries and
regions. The delay is normally 18 months longer than under the traditional
patent system of direct filing in each country. Because of this extra time you
may have a clearer idea of the commercial value of your invention, and
because of the information you will receive during the PCT international phase
you should have a clearer idea of the likely scope of patent protection that you
may obtain for it. You will thus be better placed to decide where you need
patent protection, reducing the risk that you miss commercial opportunities by
failing to choose a country that you later find is important to you.
2. Postpone costs. While one set of fees is payable when you file your PCT
application, you can wait until the end of the international phase to pay the
more significant costs of pursuing protection in the national phase: fees
relating to the translation of your patent application into various languages, for
retention of local patent attorneys to represent you in the countries in which
you enter the national phase, and official fees payable to the individual patent
offices where you are seeking patents. Postponing payment of these fees by
18 months can be very advantageous for businesses and individuals. It means
you can evaluate the information on the potential patentability of your
invention that you receive during the international phase to help you decide
whether it is worth paying to seek protection in each country or region.
3. Gain valuable information. Your PCT application will automatically trigger
an international search of prior inventions and technical documents, and you
will get a written opinion based on that search. This is valuable information
concerning the potential patentability of your invention – it can help you make
an informed decision about whether to seek patent protection. For example, if
the search report and written opinion reveal published documents which would
make it difficult or impossible to obtain patent protection, you can decide to
discontinue the pursuit of patents and so avoid all the national phase costs.
And you also have the opportunity to amend your PCT application through the
optional international preliminary examination.
4. Satisfy all formal application requirements. The PCT system establishes
one set of formal requirements with which PCT applications must comply, and
national laws are prohibited under the Treaty from applying national formality
requirements to PCT applications. In other words, by complying with the
formal requirements of the PCT system, your application will avoid the need to
meet the different formal requirements normally required of each country (or
region) in which you seek patent protection.