PCT Update 2011Webinar (English)

May 30, 2011

Quan-Ling Sim

Head, PCT Outreach and User Relations Section

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=PCT

AlbaniaAlgeriaAngolaAntigua and BarbudaArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahrain BarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswana BrazilBulgariaBurkina FasoCameroonCanadaCentral African RepublicChadChileChina Colombia Comoros Congo

Costa RicaCôte d'IvoireCroatiaCubaCyprusCzech RepublicDemocratic People's Republic of KoreaDenmarkDominicaDominican RepublicEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial Guinea EstoniaFinlandFrance,

GabonGambiaGeorgia GermanyGhana GreeceGrenadaGuatemalaGuinea

Guinea-Bissau HondurasHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIreland IsraelItalyJapanKazakhstanKenyaKyrgyzstanLao People’s Dem Rep.Latvia Lesotho LiberiaLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtenstein LithuaniaLuxembourgMadagascar

MalawiMalaysiaMaliMaltaMauritaniaMexicoMonacoMongoliaMontenegroMoroccoMozambiqueNamibia NetherlandsNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNorwayOmanPapua New GuineaPeruPhilippinesQatar (3 August 2011)

PolandPortugalRepublic of Korea Republic of MoldovaRomaniaRussian FederationSaint LuciaSaint Vincent and the Grenadines San MarinoSao Tomé e PrincipeSenegalSerbiaSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSlovakiaSloveniaSouth AfricaSpainSri LankaSudanSwaziland

St. Kitts and NevisSwedenSwitzerlandSyrian Arab RepublicTajikistan ThailandThe former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia TogoTrinidad and Tobago TunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited Republic of TanzaniaUnited States of AmericaUzbekistanViet NamZambiaZimbabwe

143 PCT States

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PCT Statistics

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

180000

78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 00 02 04 06 08 10

Overall +5.7% in 2010

Source: PCT Yearly Review 2010http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/activity/pct_2010.pdf

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International applications received in 2010 by country of origin

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

US JP DE CN KR FR GB NL CH SE CA IT FI AU ES

CN: +55.6%

KR: +20.3%

JP: +8.0%

DE: +4.5%

US: -1.6%

2010: the year East Asia overtook North America and Western

Europe to become the subregion accounting for most PCT filings

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Top PCT Applicants 2010

1. Panasonic—JP (2154)

2. ZTE—CN (1868)

3. Qualcomm—US (1677)

4. Huawei—CN (1528)

5. Philips—NL (1435)

6. Bosch—DE (1301)

7. LG Electronics—KR (1298)

8. Sharp—JP (1286)

9. Ericsson—SE (1149)

10. NEC—JP (1106)

11. Toyota—JP (1095)

12. Siemens—DE (833)

13. BASF—DE (818)

14. Mitsubishi Electric—JP (726)

15. Nokia—FI (632)

16. 3M—US (586)

17. Samsung Electronics—KR (578)

18. HP—US (564)

19. Fujitsu—JP (476)

20. Microsoft—US (469)

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2 millionth PCT application

Qualcomm files landmark application (April 2011)http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2011/article

_0013.html

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

1,800,000

2,000,000

1996 2000 2004 2011

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July 1, 2011 rule changes (1)

PCT/A/41/2 REV.

http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/govbody/en/pct_a_41/pct_a_41_2_rev.pdf

Rectifications of obvious mistakes authorized by the IPEA: Decisions from the IPEA should not be made publicly available (see modified Rule 48.2(i))

Article 19 and 34 amendments and accompanying letters

Translation to be furnished upon national phase entry must be a translation of the complete set of claims furnished under Rules 46.5(a) and 66.8(c) in replacement of claims as originally filed (see modified Rules 49.5(a))

IPEA should be provided with the letter indicating the basis in the application as filed for any amendments made under Articles 19 and 34 if applicants want the IPEA to take them into account + translation where required (modified Rules 53.9 and 55.3)

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July 1, 2011 rule changes (2)

Annexes to the IPRP Chapter II Report shall contain

Replacement sheets containing Article 19 and 34 amendments + letters

If letter indicating the basis for the amendments is missing the IPRP Chapter II may be established as if the amendments were not made (modified Rule 70.2(c-bis))

Rectifications of obvious mistakes authorized by the IPEA under Rule 91.1(b)(iii) shall be annexed to the IPRP Chapter II (see modified Rule 70.16)

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July 1, 2011 rule changes (3)

Entry into forceAmendments should apply to international

applications whose international filing date is on or after 1 July 2011

Amendments should apply to international applications in respect of which the applicant has performed the acts under Articles 22 or 39 on or after 1 July 2011 and in respect of which an amendment under Article 19 or 34 was filed on or after 1 July 2009

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PCT Working Group (1)

Meeting: June 6-10, 2011 http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=22683

Agenda Future development of PCT

Implementation of Recommendations to Improve the Functioning of the PCT System

Study: Root causes of surge in patent applications Study: Coordination of technical assistance for developing

countries Study: Disseminating technical information and facilitating

access to technology for developing countries Third party observations

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PCT Working Group (2)

Agenda (cont):Proposed changes

PCT Minimum documentation—addition of Chinese patent documents

PCT Sequence Listing Standard Force majeure rule (excuse for delay in meeting

PCT time limits) Other minor rule amendments (Rules 17.1(b-bis)

and 20.7(b)) Supplementary International SearchPCT Online Services (ePCT)

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Availability for license

PCT working group document PCT/WG/4/3

Implementation of recommendations to improve the functioning of the PCT, page 21, paragraphs 100-101

System can be implemented by the creation of a new form that applicants can complete with indications that a PCT application is available for license, and optionally, on what terms

Availability for license information to be published and searchable on PATENTSCOPE

In the final stages of consultation with the expectation that such a system will become operational sometime around July 1, 2011

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Third Party Observations (1)

PCT working group document PCT/WG/4/7

Mainly web-based systemIntegrated into PATENTSCOPEInitially limited to prior art relevant to novelty and

inventive step, and associated explanationsExpected delivery: early 2012

If member states agree, could be expanded to permit observations on clarity and sufficiency of disclosure

Free-of-charge

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Third Party Observations (2)

Submission period from publication date until 28 months from priority

Identification of submitter required, but can opt to not have identification disclosed to applicant and public

All submitted observations made available on PATENTSCOPE

Third-party uploaded documents not available via PATENTSCOPE but available to IAs/DOs/EOs

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Third Party Observations (3)

Limit of 10 citations in single observation, and free text per citation limited to 2000 characters

Applicants notified of observations, and right to respond; responses available on PATENTSCOPE

IAs/DOs/EOs notified of observations and responses

IB will moderate for spam, abuse and copyright infringement

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ePCT (1)

A suite of secure online services built around a centralized interactive electronic archive of PCT documents and data

WIPO user account and digital certificate required to access ePCT

Stage 1

Launched in production mode on May 2, 2011 (limited test users)

Private file inspection of the IB’s electronic dossier (international applications filed at RO/IB as of 1 January 2009) before publication

Up-to-date bibliographic data (IASR)

Documents not publicly available in PATENTSCOPE after publication

Integration of existing online services (online document upload and later, also PCT e-payment)

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ePCT (2)

Features being tested

Graphical timeline showing certain important events and deadlines

Multiple PCT application association

“Front page” preview

Improved e-mail notifications regarding file actions, e.g., correspondence, forms, access rights

File action history

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ePCT (3)

Features being tested (2)

Possibilities for directly accessing (and bookmarking) specific international applications or documents

Download of live bibliographic data in XML format suitable for download into agents’ systems

On-the-fly generation of cover letter at the time of online upload of documents to satisfy PCT rule 92 cover letter requirement

Download certified copies of documents in IB's file directly from ePCT (PDF documents digitally signed by a certificate in the name of the International Bureau of WIPO)

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ePCT (4)

Further stages

Extend to international applications filed electronically with other Receiving Offices and other digital certificates

Extend to international applications filed on paper or physical media

Introduction of additional online services, e.g., web-based efiling

Extension of ePCT to procedures before national Offices in varying capacities (RO, ISA, SISA, IPEA, DO, EO) that wish to participate

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Other PCT developments

Document upload

http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/service_center/

Priority Document Access Service (DAS)

http://www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/priority_documents/

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Document upload

“A simple and safe digital solution for submitting quickly and efficiently to the International Bureau (IB) and to the receiving Office of the International Bureau (RO/IB) post-filing electronic documents.”

Documents types Article 19 amendments Supplementary International Search Other (correspondence, withdrawals, power of attorney, Rule

92bis changes, informal comments) Declarations under Rule 4.17 Corrections/Rectifications (restoration, priority claim, incorporate

by reference, replacement sheets under Rule 26) Translations

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Priority Document Access Service (DAS)

DAS allows applicants to request the IB to retrieve priority documents from digital libraries

Access through DAS server via WIPO website

www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/priority_documents/

Applicant controls list of Offices entitled to access

Available for priority applications for which the 16-month time limit under Rule 17.1(b-bis)(ii) had not expired on 1 January 2010 and which were filed with a DAS participating Office

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DAS participating Offices

AU – IP Australia

ES – Spanish Patent and Trademark Office

FI – National Board of Patents and Registration of

Finland

GB – UK IP Office

IB – International Bureau

JP – Japan Patent Office

KR – Korean Intellectual Property Office

US – United States Patent and Trademark Office

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Main steps for using DAS (1)

Request the OFF to make the earlier application available via DAS

File the PCT international application and request the IB to retrieve the priority document via DAS by checking the appropriate box on the request form

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Main steps for using DAS (2)

Log in to the DAS portal and enter the priority document number, the access code and the text from the verification box.

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Main steps for using DAS (3)

Grant access permission to the IB to retrieve the priority document (this step must be taken before the expiration of the 16-month time limit)

(screen shots on following slides)

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Main steps for using DAS (4)

The IB retrieves the priority document via DAS and sends a confirmation of retrieval to the applicant by means of the form PCT/IB/304

Procedures of participating offices and DAS user guide

http://www.wipo.int/patentscope/en/priority_documents/

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PATENTSCOPE

Close to 30 national/regional patent collections in PATENTSCOPE Search database of over 7.7 million patent documents, including

more than 1.8 million published PCT applications

On-the-fly translations of PCT descriptions and drawings (and patents in national collections) in 53 languages via Google Translate

CLIR (Cross-Lingual Information Retrieval)

Enhanced machine translation tool for titles and abstracts based on human translations of title and abstract pairs En/Fr, Fr/En, En/Cn, Cn/En currently available Kr/En, Jp/En coming soon

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WARNING: Requests for Payment of Fees

“It has come to the attention of the International Bureau that PCT applicants and agents are receiving invitations to pay fees that do not come from the International Bureau of WIPO and are unrelated to the processing of international applications under the PCT. Whatever registration services might be offered in such invitations, they bear no connection to WIPO or to any of its official publications.”

http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/warning/pct_warning.htm

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PCT-PPH

PCT-Patent Prosecution Highway (PCT-PPH)Accelerated national phase processing based on

positive PCT work productsParticipating offices are AT, AU, CA, EP, ES, FI, JP,

KR, RU, SE, UShttp://www.wipo.int/pct/en/filing/pct_pph.html

Streamlining/harmonization being worked on (“PPH 2.0”)PCT-PPH experiences being solicited by the International Bureau

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PCT training options

PCT Distance learning course available in all 10 publication languages

PCT Webinars

Providing free updates on developments in PCT procedures

Upon request also for companies or law firms

More information on the PCT resources website: www.wipo.int/pct

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Questions / Feedback

PCT Information Service Telephone: (+41-22) 338 83 38 Facsimile: (+41-22) 338 83 39 E-mail: pct.infoline@wipo.int

Today’s webinar and slides will be available for download from the PCT webinar page over the next few days: http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/seminar/webinars/index.html

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