When you submit a PCT application, it will have the same filing date in all PCT member countries.

In order for a PCT application to lead to a patent in the individual countries you have selected, you must complete your application at the respective patent office.

Only a few selected patent offices carry out the novelty search and preliminary patentability assessment. One of these competent public authorities is PRV. We have extensive experience in reviewing PCT applications. Whatever you want to patent, we can take care of your application in the best possible way.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the UN body that administers the PCT.

Two PCT application phases

A PCT application is processed in one or two international phases. First, there is a mandatory novelty search (Phase I), which results in an international novelty search report. You can then choose to have your application undergo a preliminary patentability assessment (Phase II), which results in a report on the novelty value, inventive step and industrial applicability of the invention.

After that, you complete your patent application in the countries of your choice. Each country applies its own patent law in the final examination.

A PCT application is a good choice when:

• You want to gain time before deciding which countries you to apply for patents in.
• You want to defer the costs of numerous national patent applications.

Main PCT application fees

• Application fee
• Forwarding fee
• Novelty search fee
• Fee for preliminary patentability assessment
• Processing fee

Discounts

You can receive a discount for your PCT application in some cases. For example:

• A certain part of the novelty search fee is refunded if a novelty search has been carried out by PRV in a previous international application on which your PCT application is based.
• If your PCT application refers to a novelty search report of an international nature or is based on a previous application that has been examined by the European Patent Office, the Finnish Patent and Registration Office or the Nordic Patent Institute.
• You can also get a discount if you complete your PCT application with the EPO, in which case PRV is required to do the international novelty search.

The application process for international applications

When you submit a PCT application to us, we first conduct a novelty search. If you then choose to proceed to a second phase, we will also carry out a preliminary patentability assessment. In both phases, PRV acts as an international authority: the International Searching Authority (ISA) and the International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA).

You can use PRV as a PCT public authority in the following cases:

• If you are an applicant operating in Sweden, you can choose PRV as the receiving authority and ISA/IPEA.
• If you are an applicant operating in a Nordic country, you can choose PRV as the ISA/IPEA via the International Bureau in Geneva as the receiving authority.

PRV takes care of your PCT application throughout the process - a great security for you as a customer.

Once you have received our opinion, you decide in which countries you want to proceed with your application.

Timeline

In most cases, you have 30 months from the priority date to complete your PCT application in an individual country.