Filing multiple patents can quickly become costly, as can enforcing your patent rights abroad through infringement lawsuits. You would have to hire lawyers in these countries to protect your rights, and you would have to incur legal costs in foreign courts. Unless you`re running a very large business, it`s probably not worth it financially, as the cost of obtaining and enforcing the patent would be higher than the patent revenue. As long as you make sufficient profit from using your invention in your primary market, it doesn`t make sense to file a patent application in many different countries. The Madrid Protocol also facilitates the registration of trademarks in several countries. By filing a trademark application with the USPTO, U.S. applicants can simultaneously seek protection in up to 84 countries. Information on filing an international trademark application under the Madrid Protocol is available on the USPTO website. Patents are not just abstract concepts; They play an invaluable and practical role in everyday life. By rewarding ideas, patents promote the development of innovations and new technologies in all fields. After 18 months, the international patent application is published with the results of the international search and the written opinion of the Patent Office on the search report.

Until then, your application was subject to strict confidentiality by patent offices. To obtain similar protection for your invention abroad, you must file patent applications in other jurisdictions. There are several ways and strategies to do this, and in this blog post we will present a common strategy for obtaining patent protection abroad that works well for many of our clients. We recommend that you file the PCT application with the EPO. The EPO will issue a written opinion on the patentability of your invention. This gives you another great opportunity to re-evaluate your patent application. The PLT sets common and generally maximum requirements for many procedural formalities related to national or regional patent applications and patents. Learn more about PLT. Some regions have regional patent offices and will recognize patents in some of their member states.

For example, the African Regional Intellectual Property Organization and the European Patent Office grant patent protection to some or all States of the countries included in each organization or office. However, there are many pitfalls to avoid. The laws of all WTO (World Trade Organization) member countries require the authorization of the current patent owner, not only to use the patented technology, but also to import products that embody or are manufactured by the patented technology. An example of this is 35 USC 271, laws used to stop the importation into the United States of certain products manufactured in countries where the processes or parts are not patented because, had they been manufactured in the United States, they would have infringed U.S. patents. More recently, these were computer and pharmaceutical products. There are a few narrow exceptions. Similar laws have been used to stop the import of soybeans grown in Argentina into Europe, because although no patents have been infringed in Argentina, the processes used to produce the seeds have been patented in Europe. In countries where a granted patent has not been granted or, if it has been granted, has expired or lapsed, the invention may be freely used or patented for others. Although each country can have its own approval process and restrictions. It does not matter whether the patent is valid for your country or not, as long as the patent is considered a valuable source of information.

Is a U.S. patent valid in other countries? This is an important issue that many entrepreneurs and inventors consider when protecting their ideas. A patent is granted by the government of a country and is enforceable in its territory. Normally, you must decide within 12 months of your first application in which countries you want to obtain patent protection. If you file a PCT application, you can defer it to 30 months. This has the following advantages: For more information on how to file an individual patent application abroad, contact the IP office of that country directly. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) maintains a list of contact details for most IP offices around the world. Let`s look at how companies protect and benefit from their intellectual property. The easiest way for a company to protect its intellectual property is to never reveal it – to create a so-called trade secret of any confidential business information that gives a company a competitive advantage. This is how Coca-Cola protects the formula of its extremely popular lemonade.

If secrecy were discovered or revealed by shameful intent, the Trade Secrets Act would punish the violator, including criminal prosecution. But if a company developed the same formula itself, there was nothing Coca-Cola could do to stop it. As a result, companies opt for different protection of intellectual property – i.e. patents, the exclusive right of an invention, whether a product or a process, which must be industrially applicable (useful), new (new) and have sufficient „inventive step“ (not obvious). and copyrightA body of legislation that grants protection to authors, artists and other creators for their literary and artistic creations, commonly referred to as „works“. Some regional patent offices allow an inventor to obtain protection in multiple countries through a single application. They should ensure that the countries in which they seek protection are members of the regional patent office. There are, inter alia, a European Patent Office, an African Intellectual Property Organization and a Eurasian Patent Organization. If you have another specific country that you are targeting as part of your main market, you may want to file for protection with their patent office.

You can find equivalents to the USPTO in other countries by consulting the directory compiled by the World Intellectual Property Organization.