How do you file an International Patent Application?
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How do you file an International Patent Application? Video Transcript
The question here is how and when do you prepare an international PCT application. The goal is to file and prepare an international PCT application as soon as possible, because you do not want to wait until the last day. When is as soon as possible? After you file the parent application, or at the same time, you could file the PCT application. You only have one year from the earliest priority date to file a PCT application. It has to be reformatted to A4 paper. There is a bunch of different transmittal forms that are required with it. It gets a new application number in the foreign filings. Then there is a different procedure for doing a search. You have to elect a search. It is pretty expensive to do a PCT application. The filing fees alone are $1,800. If you are an inventor, you want to do it right, because it is going to affect potentially the rights in other countries, but you want to do it early as well because if you forget, then you may lose rights in other countries. Now, why do you want to do it in the first place? If you want to protect your invention in more than one country, it is important to file the PCT application to give you the right to later file in any member country.