The Patent Cooperation Treaty, 1970

Intellectual Property Rights I · Unit V · Topic 18 of 20 · 4 min read

Why the PCT was made, its objectives, the international phase (filing, international search, publication, optional preliminary examination) and the national phase, its advantages, and how the Indian Patents Act gives effect to it.

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On this page

1. Background
2. Objectives
3. Salient features: the international phase
4. The national phase
5. Advantages
6. The PCT in Indian law
How this is examined

Cases checked to exist. Read the judgment before quoting a holding.

Every case cited here has been checked to exist — the citation resolves and names the right parties. The propositions attributed to each case have not been verified line by line against the judgment. Case names link through to the full judgment: read it before quoting a holding in an examination answer, and never carry a proposition from notes into court on trust.

One application, not one patent. The PCT lets an applicant file a single international application that has the effect of a national application in every member country he designates. But patents are still granted country by country, by each national office under its own law. The PCT unifies the filing and search stages, not the grant. An answer that says “the PCT grants an international patent” loses most of its marks.

1. Background

Under the Paris Convention an applicant wanting protection in many countries had to file separate applications in each, in different languages, within the twelve-month priority period, and each office searched and examined the same invention again. The duplication was expensive for applicants and wasteful for offices. The Patent Cooperation Treaty was concluded at Washington on 19 June 1970 as a special agreement under Article 19 of the Paris Convention, entered into force in 1978, and has been amended and modified since (1979, 1984, 2001). It is administered by WIPO. India acceded with effect from 7 December 1998, the same day as its accession to the Paris Convention.

2. Objectives

to simplify and make more economical the obtaining of protection for inventions in several countries through a single filing;
to avoid duplication of search and examination by national offices;
to give applicants and offices an international search report and opinion on patentability before the expensive national stage;
to make technical information in applications available to the public through international publication; and
to provide technical assistance to developing countries (Chapter IV of the Treaty).

3. Salient features: the international phase

Who may file. A national or resident of a PCT contracting state.
Filing. One international application, in one language, with one set of fees, at a receiving office — normally the national patent office of the applicant’s country (the Indian Patent Office for Indian applicants) or the International Bureau of WIPO. It may claim Paris priority from an earlier national application. Its international filing date has effect in all contracting states (Article 11).
Designation. Filing automatically designates all contracting states.
International search (Chapter I). An International Searching Authority (ISA) searches the prior art and issues an International Search Report with a written opinion on novelty, inventive step and industrial applicability, usually by about sixteen months from priority. The Indian Patent Office has functioned as an ISA and International Preliminary Examining Authority since 2013.
International publication by the International Bureau promptly after eighteen months from the priority date.
Supplementary international search, optionally, by another authority.
International preliminary examination (Chapter II), optional, on demand, by an International Preliminary Examining Authority, which issues an International Preliminary Report on Patentability. It is non-binding; the applicant may amend the claims during it.

4. The national phase

At the end of the international phase, generally thirty months from the priority date, the applicant enters the national phase in each country in which he actually wants a patent, paying national fees and filing translations. Each designated office then examines the application under its own law and grants or refuses a patent. Some countries allow more time; India allows thirty-one months under the Patents Rules.

5. Advantages

The applicant gets up to eighteen more months (thirty months instead of twelve) to decide where to seek protection, test the market, find licensees and raise funds, before paying national costs.
A single application in one language secures a filing date in all member countries.
The search report and written opinion tell the applicant early whether the invention is likely to be patentable, so he can amend or abandon before spending heavily.
National offices can rely on the international search and examination, reducing their work.
Published applications spread technical knowledge.
Developing-country applicants benefit from fee reductions and assistance.

The limits: no international patent is granted; the national phase costs remain; and the international reports do not bind national offices.

6. The PCT in Indian law

Section 2(1)(ia) defines an “international application” as one made in accordance with the PCT.
Section 7(1A): an international application designating India is deemed an application under the Act if a corresponding application is filed before the Controller; section 7(1B): its filing date is the international filing date.
Section 10(4A): the title, description, drawings, abstract and claims filed with the international application are taken as the complete specification.
Explanation to section 53(1): the twenty-year term runs from the international filing date.
Section 138 and the Patents Rules contain further provisions for national phase applications.

How this is examined

January 2026 and February 2025 both asked “Explain the scope and objects (objectives) of Patent Co-operation Treaty”; August 2024 set a note on its “advantages”. For the essay, background, objectives and the two phases in order; close with the Indian provisions. For the note, section 5 with a two-line description of the procedure. The box at the top states the point examiners most often see misstated.

Now try the real questions: Intellectual Property Rights I past question papers.