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Procedures, Pitfalls and Costs:
Best Practices for Securing
Foreign Patents
Panel: Bill Bunker and Brenden Gingrich
Moderator: Rose Thiessen
The recipient may only view this work. No other right or license is granted.
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Foreign Patent Filing Strategies
• What?
• Where?
• When?
• Why?
• How Much $$$?
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Should I Foreign File?
• Case-by-case review
• Nature of each case determines patentability
• How patentability is assessed varies by country
• Perceived value/effort relationship may determine whether to proceed
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Reasons to Consider Filing in Foreign Countries
• Stop your competitors from supplying the foreign market (supply yourself or through a foreign partner)
• License IP rights to a foreign company
• Attract investment from a foreign partner or the foreign government
• Increase the value of your IP portfolio
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Consider Your Markets
• Are you planning to provide products or services to the foreign market either directly or through a distributor?
• Are you looking for a collaborative partnership with a foreign company to provide products or services to the foreign market?
• Are you seeking investment in the foreign country?
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Consider Your Markets
• Markets outside the United States
– Can you tolerate a foreign competitor supplying unprotected markets?
• United States Market
– Are you satisfied with patent protection only in the United States?
• If so, you might consider requesting that the United States application not be published until its issuance
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Foreign Filing Timeline and Expenses
Provisional
Patent App.
Patent
Search
Non-Provisional
Patent App.
Patent Cooperation
Treaty (PCT) Filing
National Phase
(Foreign Patent
App. Filings)
Conception
Of Invention
1 year
18 months
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Consider Your Budget
• Plan realistically
– Obtaining a patent in some foreign jurisdictions can be expensive
• Official fees paid to the foreign government
• Professional fees paid to a foreign patent attorney
• Cost of translating all documents submitted to the foreign patent office
• Cost of annuities after patent issues
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Countries
• European Patent Office (EPO)
• Japan
• China
• Argentina; Brazil; Chile; Mexico
• Russia
• India
• Canada
• Australia
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Cost Considerations
• Serial filings generally not preferred in Europe (time limits for filing divisionals, high costs associated with validation of granted EP patent)
• Filing in U.S., Europe, and Japan will cover bulk of the global market
• Carefully consider whether to file in other countries (Canada, Australia, Korea, Taiwan, China, Russia, or other markets)
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Cut Losses When Appropriate
• Annual review of portfolio to identify applications/patents to abandon, donate, monetize, license
– Change business direction
– Introduction of new products
– Old products off the market
– Unfavorable prosecution
– Litigation
– Possibilities for enforcing patent against competitor, value of patent/application to discourage competition
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Patentable Subject Matter
• Draft specifications that encompass all categories of patentable subject matter
– Compositions of matter
– Apparatus
– Systems
– Components
– Methods of making (compositions, apparatus)
– Methods of using (compositions, apparatus)
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Possible Subject Matter Exclusions
• Naturally occurring substances
• Methods of surgery, therapy and diagnosis
• Animal and Plant Varieties
• Computer Programs
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Dealing with Excluded Subject Matter
• If your technology falls into an excluded area, see an experienced patent attorney
– There are often ways to obtain patent protection for excluded subject matter through clever drafting of the specification and claims
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Direct National Phase Filing
• File first application in a foreign country
– Fastest way to an issued patent
– You will likely need to obtain a foreign filing license from your country of residence before filing
– The application may need to be submitted in a foreign language
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Paris Convention Filing
• Many countries are a party to the Paris Convention
– A foreign patent application can claim priority to the first-filed patent application disclosing the invention
• The first-filed application must have been filed in a country that is a party to the Paris Convention
• The foreign application must be filed within one year of the first-filed application that discloses the invention
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PCT Filing
• Many countries are PCT member nations
– A PCT application designating a foreign country provides the most flexibility in the timing of filing the national application
– Can delay the cost of national phase entry for up to 30 months
– Can enter national phase early if time is of the essence
– Keep the number of claims reasonable if planning on entering the national phase, as claim fees may be based on the number of claims originally presented in the international application
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• File utility applications directly in all countries of interest
• Take advantage of accelerated examination procedures
• Consider parallel filings within a particular country
Aggressive Filing Strategy
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Defer Costs / Delay Filing Decisions
• File U.S. provisional application, then
• File U.S. utility application only or
• File PCT application designating all states
• Consider serial filing strategy
• Consider mechanisms for delay of grant
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When must I decide whether to foreign file?
• Review/decision at same time as evaluation for US filing, and reevaluate at later stages (e.g., due date for entry into national stage from PCT, receipt of negative examination report)
• File US first to establish priority, or simultaneously with foreign filings?
• Different drafting requirements for foreign filings
• Foreign bar dates and grace periods
• Delay examination of foreign application?
• Take advantage of Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) or expedited examination provisions
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