ePCT: For even easier international patent filing

• Author: Silke Weiss
• Position: PCT Legal Division, WIPO
• Pages: 2-5

p. 2 2012 | 6

ePCT: for even

easier international

patent ling

In an age of increasing globaliz ation, companies large and small

are seeking patent protection in multip le countries. WIPO’s

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) provides es sential service s

to facilitate this process and is an inc reasingly popular means

of ling for international patent protection. In 2011 alone, over

181,000 international patent applic ations were led under

the Treaty. The patent system as it exists today, however, is

still characterized by proces ses that are largely rooted in the

physical exchange of documents. T his can cause delays

and impede the system’s operational efci ency. In May 2011,

WIPO launched ePCT, a new online servic e that will make the

process of international patent ap plication ling far easier and

more efcient, and offe rs users and national patent of ces a

number of advantages. ePCT use rs are heralding it as the

greatest innovation in the PCT system over the past 30 year s.

This article outlin es the services availa ble under ePCT and

highlights some of its main benets.

“Just 12 months ago, ePCT was a small-scale pi lot scheme”,

notes WIPO Director General Franc is Gurry. “Today it is being

used by applicants from over 80 co untries and has recently

been made available to patent of ces. It is proving to be ex-

tremely popular. It responds to innovators’ need for an on-line

tool to navigate the international patent system effe ctively, and

is among the most impor tant of the current improvements to

the PCT.”

The patent system has grown up with proce sses that are still

largely based on the exchange of pap er documents. This

means that the same patent appl ication and associated

documents are often held by multiple actors working within

the patent system. These include patent app licants and their

representatives in dif ferent countries, patent ofce s, and pat-

ent searching and examin ing authorities. ePCT offers a virtu al

alternative enabling the el ectronic exchange of patent-related

data between interested par ties securely, quickly and easily. It

establishes a single electronic platform that is accessible to all

those involved in the international patentin g process. Once the

system is fully functional, app licants can submit their inter na-

tional patent applications onl ine and these are instantly avail-

able to the 18 International Searching Authorities responsible

for searching the prior ar t to determine the patentability of an

invention. The results of this search a re then readily available

to applicants via their dedi cated ePCT le.

ePCT’S SERVICES

ePCT offers two type s of service: public service s that, by simply

establishing a user account, enable users to upload documents

relating to all international appli cations led under the PCT; and

private services that, by uplo ading a digital certicate, enable

users to access and mana ge their international applic ations

led as of January 1, 2009.

With ePCT, users can monitor the status of their internationa l

application and modif y it as necessary in real-time. They can

also communicate securel y with WIPO’s PCT examiners, moni-

tor deadlines (thanks to a running time line feature) and receive

notications of events and necess ary action. Users can a lso

give access rights to others acc ording to whether they are an

“eOwner”, an “eEditor” or an “eViewer”. This feature allows a

patent agent, for example, to share a le with colle agues, or

with the applicants they a re representing.

A USER’S OPINIO N

“ePCT is part of the daily work ow of Oppedahl Patent Law

Firm (OPLF),” says Carl Oppedahl, one of the earli est adopt-

ers of the service. OPLF e ncourages its foreign clients to use

ePCT when they seek patent protection in the U S by offering

them a discount. “ePCT permits us to carr y out the US national

phase entry more ef ciently,” notes Mr. Oppedahl. “Access to

ePCT allows us to copy and paste bibliograph ic data rather

than hand-keying it, and permi ts early access to impor tant

documents,” he explains.

Similarly, ePCT also helps the rm whe n its clients are seek-

ing to enter the national phase outside th e US. “It used to be

that when we would entrust a nationa l phase entry task to a

patent rm [outside the US], we had to send lots of PDF les.

It was all too easy to forget to send a le that might be need ed

in a particular countr y, or to send a le that was not actually

needed, either of which wastes tim e or risks sending an email

that was too large for the recipient’s email system. Now, with

ePCT, when our client tells us to enter the national phase in a

particular countr y, it is simply a matter of a couple of mouse

clicks to give ePCT access to the internation al application to

the intended foreign law rm,” he explains. “In this way, the

foreign law rm has direct ac cess to everything it ne eds to

carry out the nation al phase entry”.

By Sil ke Wei ss,

PCT Legal Divisi on, WIPO