Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT)

Applications for the protection of inventions in any of the contracting states may be filed as international applications under this treaty. Applications are filed through the national office of a contracting state which acts as the receiving office. Only a resident or national of a contracting state may file an application.

The documents and other requirements are as follows:

• A petition.
• The designation of the contracting state or states in which protection is sought.
• The particulars of the applicant.
• The title of the invention.
• The particulars of the inventor.
• The patent specification and claims, together with an abstract of the invention.
• A set of the drawings.

The states acceded to the PCT are:

Albania, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Belarus, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Congo, Denmark, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany (Federal Republic of), Guinea, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Krygyzstan, Lativa, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Senegal, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

The Sudan is the only Arab country member to the PCT.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.