18 months after the filing date or the priority date, the international application is published by the International Bureau at the WIPO, based in Geneva, Switzerland, in one of the ten "languages of publication": Arabic, Chinese, French English, German, Japanese, Russian, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. If 18 months after the priority date, the international application designates only the United States, then the application is not automatically published.
Query Form
In order to obtain protection in each individual country the inventor chooses, it is necessary for the PCT to be converted in the national patent offices of the selected countries where the invention will be subject to an examination in order to meet the national requirements for novelty, obviousness etc. The administrative tasks, including translation if compulsory and the fees associated with lodging patent applications in that country, must be complied with. Therefore, The PCT application can act as a way of delaying the costs of filing in multiple national patent offices, until the inventor has decided whether it is worthwhile seeking protection in several countries.
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