Recent Developments of the

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)WIPO Regional Workshop on Effective Use of the

PCT System: the Experience of Asian CountriesBangkokMay 16-17, 2012

Takashi YAMASHITA

Director, PCT International Cooperation Division, WIPO

2

Statistics

3

PCT Statistics

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

180000

200000

78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98 00 02 04 06 08 10

A new record 181,900, +10.7% growth in 2011

Source: PCT Yearly Review 2012

4

PCT applications filed by geographical region

0

10

20

30

40

5050

Share of PCT applications (%)

1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011

Asia Europe North America

Year

PCT applications filed in 2011 are WIPO estimates

Source: WIPO Statistics Database, March 2012

5

0

5'000

10'000

15'000

20'000

25'000

30'000

35'000

40'000

45'000

50'000

US JP DE CN KR FR GB CH NL SE CA IT FI AU ES

PCT applications in 2011 by country of origin

Growth rate compared to 2010

US: +8%

JP: +21%

DE: +5.7%

CN: +33.4%

KR: +8%

6

0

200

400

600

800

1'000

1'200

1'400

1'600

IL IN AT DK BE RU NO SG BR TR IE NZ ZA MY LU PL MX HU SA UA SI CL BB PT GR LI TH

PCT applications in 2011 by country of origin (Cont)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

TH PH VN ID LK MN

IN: +11.2%

SG:+4.7%

7

Top PCT Applicants 2011

1. ZTE—CN (2826)

2. Panasonic—JP (2463)

3. Huawei—CN (1831)

4. Sharp—JP (1755)

5. Bosch—DE (1518)

6. Qualcomm—US (1494)

7. Toyota—JP (1417)

8. LG Electronics—KR (1336)

9. Philips—NL (1148)

10. Ericsson—SE (1116)

11. NEC—JP (1056)

12. Siemens—DE (1039)

13. Mitsubishi Electric—JP (834)

14. BASF—DE (773)

15. Samsung Electronics—KR (757)

16. Nokia—FI (698)

17. IBM—US (661)

18. HP—US (591)

19. 3M—US (563)

20. HITACHI—JP (547)

8

2 millionth PCT application

Qualcomm files landmark application (April 2011)http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2011/article_0013.html

0

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

1,600,000

1,800,000

2,000,000

1996 2000 2004 2011

9

145 PCT States= PCT

Albania

Algeria

Angola

Antigua and Barbuda

Armenia

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Bahrain

Barbados

Belarus

Belgium

Belize

Benin

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Botswana

Brazil

Brunei Darussalam (24 July 2012)

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

Canada

Central African Republic

Chad

Chile

China

Colombia

Comoros

Congo

Costa Rica

Côte d'Ivoire

Croatia

Cuba

Cyprus

Czech Republic

Democratic People's

Republic of Korea

Denmark

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Equatorial Guinea

Estonia

Finland

France,

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Germany

Ghana

Greece

Grenada

Guatemala

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Honduras

Hungary

Iceland

India

Indonesia

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Japan

Kazakhstan

Kenya

Kyrgyzstan

Lao People’s Dem Rep.

Latvia

Lesotho

Liberia

Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

Madagascar

Malawi

Malaysia

Mali

Malta

Mauritania

Mexico

Monaco

Mongolia

Montenegro

Morocco

Mozambique

Namibia

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nicaragua

Niger

Nigeria

Norway

Oman

Papua New Guinea

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Portugal

Qatar

Republic of Korea

Republic of Moldova

Romania

Rwanda

Russian Federation

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and

the Grenadines

San Marino

Sao Tomé e Principe

Senegal

Serbia

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Slovakia

Slovenia

South Africa

Spain

Sri Lanka

Sudan

Swaziland

St. Kitts and Nevis

Sweden

Switzerland

Syrian Arab Republic

Tajikistan

Thailand

The former Yugoslav

Republic of Macedonia

Togo

Trinidad and Tobago

Tunisia

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Uganda

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

United Republic of Tanzania

United States of America

Uzbekistan

Viet Nam

Zambia

Zimbabwe

10

PCT contribution to WIPO Budget 2010/2011

72%

17%

1%

6% 4%

PCT

Madrid

Hague

Contributions

Other

11

Discussion on PCT

12

History of PCT development

The PCT Reform (2000-2007)

Simplification and improvements in efficiency

� The period for entering the national phase under

Chapter I was extended to 30months

� Written opinion of ISA was introduced into Chapter I

� All-inclusive designation system

13

History of PCT development

Applicant safeguards

�Reinstate the rights of applicants who had missed the time limit for national phase entry

�Incorporation of missing elements and parts of the international application

�Restoration of the right of priority

�Rectification of obvious mistakes

Supplementary international search

Fee reductions to encourage the use of electronic filing

14

Recent PCT developments

PCT Roadmap

�Improve the functioning of PCT system by all

stakeholders, e.g., ISA, RO, DO/EO, national Office,

Contracting States, IB

Work sharing and PCT�PCT-PPH

PCT-related Infrastructure�ePCT

�PATENTSCOPE

15

Roadmap

Background

� PCT system does not appear to effectively function as expected,

particularly, quality and timeliness

Objectives

Improve the functioning of PCT system

�Deliver results which meet the needs of applicants, Offices,

third parties in all Contracting States

�Without limiting freedom of Contracting States on substantive

patent law matters

Recommendations(2010)

�Work with ISAs to improve quality of ISR/WO

� Third party observation system

� Collaborative search, etc

16

MIA

Meeting of International Authorities: February 8-10, 2012http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_code=pct/mia/19

Topics

� Quality

�Gathering certain metrics concerning documents cited

by ISAs

�Standardized Clauses to be used by IAs

�Comments should be made on “clarity and support” in

WO

17

MIA

Topics (cont)

� Future development of PCT

� PCT third party observation system, operation in July 2012

� Collaborative Search and Examination Pilot Project

� Search Strategy Information in PCT

� Review of Supplementary International Search

� PCT Minimum Documentation- widen range of Patent Literature

� PCT Sequence Listing Standard

� Color drawings in International Applications

� ePCT

� Revision of WIPO Standard ST.14 (document category codes)

18

Third Party Observations

Mainly web-based system—integrated into

PATENTSCOPE database—for indicating prior art

relevant to novelty and inventive step, and associated

explanations

Submission period from publication date until 28 months

from priority

Free-of-charge

Applicants notified of observations, and right to respond;

responses available on PATENTSCOPE

Commence operation in July 2012

More details in PCT/WG/5/7

19

Availability for license

Applicants interested in licensing the inventions contained

in their international applications can request IB to make

this information available on PATENTSCOPE

Submit new Form PCT/IB/382 “Request for indication of

availability for licensing purposes”

At any time from the filing of the international application

until the expiration of the 30-month time period

This service is available as from 1 January 2012, for any

international application in respect of which the period of

30 months from the priority date has not expired

20

July 1, 2012 Rule changes

PCT Min. Doc. include Chinese patent documents

Amended Rule 17.1(b-bis): a request to retrieve priority documents from a digital library will be considered timely received if the request is received by the International Bureau before the date of publication (alignment with Rule 17.1(a))

Amended Rule 20.7(b): rewording of the Rule in order to avoid misinterpretation

New Rule 82quater: general provision to offer protection to applicants by excusing delays in meeting PCT time limits when that delay resulted from force majeure circumstances

�contemplates a case by case evaluation by the offices

�does not apply to the 12 month priority period nor to time limit for entry into the national phase

21

PCT Working Group

Meeting: May 29 - June 1, 2012

http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=25017

Topics

Future development of PCT

�Implementation of Recommendations to Improve the Functioning of the PCT System

�Surge in worldwide patent applications

�Coordination of technical assistance for developing countries

�Disseminating technical information and facilitating access to technology for developing countries

�Third party observations

�Supplementary International Search

�Collaborative search and examination

22

PCT Working Group

Topics (cont):

Future development of PCT (cont)

�ISR/WO as of date of international publication

�Top-up Searching and Accelerated Processing

�ePCT

PCT procedural and legal framework

�Restoration of the Right of Priority (Office practices)

�PCT Sequence Listing Standard

�Color Drawings in International Applications

�PCT Minimum documentation - Definition and Extent of

Patent Literature

�Revision of WIPO Standard ST.14

23

Work sharing and PCT

24

Global patent activities

Source: World Intellectual Property Indicators, 2011

25

Global patent activities

� Resident application

� Direct (Paris) route

Patent Office A

Patent Office B

Patent Office C

Patent Office A

26

Global patent activities

� PCT route

international phase

national phase entry

Patent Office B

Patent Office C

Patent Office A

(Receiving Office)

27

Global patent activities

Global patent application composition (2010)

Resident

application

Direct route

PCT route

Total:~1.98 mil

~1.23 mil

non-resident application:

~0.75mil

PCT:53%, Direct: 47%

Source: World Intellectual Property Indicators, 2011

28

Trend of PCT national phase entries (NPEs)

Source: WIPO IP Facts and Figures 2011

29

Work sharing

office

workload/backlog

applicant

less predictable outcome

○ × ○

reduce workload/ backlog more predictable outcome

○ ○ ○

work sharing

30

ApplicantRO

ISA

IPEA/SISA

(option)

DO/EO

IB

International Publication

DO/EO

12 16 18 28 300

Work sharing in PCT

RO: Receiving Office

ISA: International Searching Authority

ISR: International Search Report

IB: International Bureau

IPEA: International Preliminary Examining Authority

IPER: International Preliminary Examination Report

SISA: Supplementary International Searching Authority

SISR: Supplementary International Search Report

DO: Designated Office

EO: Elected Office

ISR

IPER/SISR

(option)

31

PCT International Authorities (IA)

ISA/IPEAs (IAs) are the following 17 Offices

�Israel (operational from June 1, 2012)

�Japan

�Republic of Korea

�Russian Federation

�Spain

�Sweden

�United States of America

�European Patent Office

�Nordic Patent Institute

�Australia

�Austria

�Brazil

�Canada

�China

�Egypt (not yet operational)

�Finland

�India (not yet operational)

32

Quality and timeliness

Key issues of work sharing

�Quality

High quality search/examination report will enhance

effective utility and trust by other Offices

�Timeliness

Timely service of search/examination report is

essential to be used by other Offices

33

Work sharing model

Supplementary e.g., SIS

Interactive e.g., Collaborative search and examination

Reuse e.g., PCT, PPH

+

Office A

Office B

34

PCT-PPH

Paris route

PPH

international phase

PCT-PPH

PCT route

claim

1:OK

…

claim

1:OK

…

fast track

fast track

PCT and PPH is the same concept for work-sharing → PCT-PPH

http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/filing/pct_pph.html

ISA/IPEA

35

PCT-PPH network

X

PT

X

PH

X

X

IS

X

X

X

DK

X

MX

X

X

NO

XXXXN

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

UK

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

US

X

X

X

SE

X

X

X

RU

Other

(4)

XXXXXXXXUS

XSE

XXRU

XXKR

X

AU

X

CA

X

CN

X

EP

X

X

ES

X

X

X

FI

X

X

X

X

X

JP

AT

ISA/IPEA

AU

CA

XCN

EP

ES

KRAT

Office of PCT-PPH filing

JP

XFI

As of April 2012

36

PCT-PPH

PCT

145 member states

PPH

25 participating offices

PCT-PPH

37

PCT-related Infrastructure

38

Improvements to PCT-related Infrastructure

� ePCT:

� Secure file inspection system by applicants

� Future options;

�Expand secure file inspection environment for applicants and

offices

�Allow applicants to action, eg., correction, withdrawal

�Web based PCT filing

� PATENTSCOPE

� Increase coverage

� New features, functions

39

More information on PCT:

www.wipo.int/pct

Questions:

PCT Information Service

�Telephone: (+41-22) 338 83 38

�Facsimile: (+41-22) 338 83 39

�E-mail: pct.infoline@wipo.int

40

Thank you !