Filing an International Application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)

Filing an international application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) allows applicants to file a single application with the International Bureau and seek patent protection in any of the member countries of the PCT (“Designated States”). As of today, over 140 countries are members of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, including the Russian Federation.

 

An international application must be filed within 12 months from the date of filing the national Russian application with the receiving office (for Russian applicants, this is the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, hereinafter referred to as Rospatent). Rospatent then forwards the application to the International Bureau (WIPO).

 

The international phase lasts 30–31 months from the priority date (typically the filing date of the Russian application, if filed). During this period, the applicant can select the countries in which protection is desired, and to which the international application will later enter the national phase.

 

An international application that has been assigned an international filing date is considered as a properly filed national application in each designated country as of the international filing date. This means that, upon entry into the national phase, the application is treated as filed with the national office on the international filing date—not the actual date it was received by that office. If the international application is based on a prior Russian application, the priority date of the Russian filing will be retained. If the initial application is filed directly as a PCT application in Russia, the priority date will be the international filing date.

 

Russian applicants may file the international application in the Russian language.

 

Filing an international application does not grant the applicant any exclusive rights in the designated states. However, it provides the option of delaying entry into the national phases for international patenting—extending the standard 12-month deadline up to 30–31 months.

 

The cost of filing a PCT international application is calculated based on the following factors:

– whether the original application needs to be revised and to what extent;

– the quality of the original application;

– the number of independent claims;

– the number of pages, subject matter, and complexity (for translation purposes);

– the selected international searching authority;

– whether the applicant is a legal entity or an individual;

– and other case-specific factors.

 

The exact cost of filing a PCT international application is calculated individually upon request.

 

To file a PCT application, the applicant must provide:

1. A complete set of documents from the Russian application for the invention or utility model.
2. Information about any amendments made to the application materials, as well as the updated versions of those materials.
3. If available, the results of a patent search.
4. The full and exact name of the applicant (individual).
5. The applicant’s address and mailing address for correspondence. Full names and residential addresses of the inventors.
6. A power of attorney in the name of the patent attorney, signed by the applicant (form provided; notarization and legalization are not required).

 

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