PCT International Patent Application
Short answer: a PCT application does not grant a patent anywhere — it buys time. One international filing locks your priority date and defers the expensive decision about which countries to enter to roughly 30 or 31 months, while an international search report and written opinion tell you how registrable the invention looks before you commit to national fees.
How we work
Usually a first home-country application that fixes the date
Claim priority from that first filing
A written opinion on novelty and inventive step arrives before national decisions are due
Extend the useful period and argue the opinion before national offices
Translate, appoint local agents and pay fees only in the markets that made the cut
What you need to prepare
- Full specification with claims, description and drawings
- Priority application details and filing date
- Applicant and inventor data with ownership confirmation
- Abstract and search-ready terminology
- Budget and market list for the national-phase decision
Frequently asked questions
Does a PCT give me a worldwide patent?
No. There is no such thing as an international patent grant. PCT is a filing and search procedure; each country or region still examines and grants separately, and you must enter the national phase and win there.
PCT or the Paris Convention 12-month route?
Use Paris direct national filings when you already know exactly which two or three markets you need and want rights sooner. Use PCT when the market list is still open, when you want the search opinion before spending, or when you need the extra 18 months to prove commercial traction.
Is the international search report useful if it is negative?
Very. A negative report tells you early that broad claims will fail, so you can narrow them, add data, abandon weak markets or keep the technology as know-how instead of paying national-phase fees everywhere. It also becomes a useful disclosure to partners and investors.
Want an assessment first?
Tell us the product and target marketplaces and we will give you a registrability opinion, a realistic timeline and a cost breakdown. Files can be submitted within 48 hours of confirmation.
