International patent law

IPR

1. Intellectual Property Rights
Presented by
Dr. B.Rajalingam
Assistant Professor
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
PriyadarshiniCollege of Engineering & Technology, Nellore
Unit 5
International Patent Law

2. Syllabus
•New Developments of Intellectual Property
–Trade Mark Law
–Copy Right Law
–Patent Law
–Intellectual Property Audits
•International Overview on Intellectual Property
–Trade Mark Law
–Copy Right Law
–Patent Law
New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam11 May 2020 2

3. International Patent Law
•TherightsgrantedbyaU.S.patentextendonlythroughouttheUnitedStates
andhavenoeffectinaforeigncountry.
•Therefore,generally,aninventorwhodesirespatentprotectioninothercountries
mustapplyforapatentineachoftheothercountriesorinregionalpatentoffices.
•Nearlyeverycountryhasitsownpatentlaw,andapersonwhowishestoobtaina
patentinaparticularcountrymustmakeanapplicationforpatentinthatcountry,
inaccordancewithitsrequirements.
•Adirectoryofandlinkstoworldwidepatentofficescanbefoundathttp://
www.wipo.int/directory/en/urls.jsp.
•Thelawsofmanyothercountriesdifferinvariousrespectsfromthepatentlaw
oftheUnitedStates.
New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam11 May 2020 3

4. Cont…
•IntheUnitedStates,however,effectiveundertheAIAonMarch16,2013,the
one-yeargraceperiodappliesastotheinventor’sownpublicationordisclosure.
•Mostforeigncountriesrequirethattheinventionbemanufacturedinthat
countrywithinacertainperiodoftime,usuallythreeyears,aftergrantofthe
patent.
•Additionally,nearlyallforeigncountriesgrantpatentstothe“firsttofile”the
application.
•TheUnitedStateshasfolloweda“firsttoinvent”systemfor200years,although
undertheAIA,effectiveMarch16,2013,theUnitedStateswilladopta“firstto
file”system.
•ThereareseveralinternationalpatenttreatiestowhichtheUnitedStates
adheres,primarilytheParisConvention,thePCT,andtheAgreementon
TRIPS.
New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam11 May 2020 4

5. 1. Paris Convention
•TheParisConventionfortheProtectionofIntellectualPropertyof1883isa
treatyadheredtobymorethan170nationsandisadministeredbyWIPO.
•TheParisConventionrequiresthateachmembercountryguaranteetothecitizens
oftheothermemberadherentsthesamerightsinpatentandtrademarkmatters
thatitprovidestoitsowncitizens.
•Thetreatyalsoprovidesfortherightofpriorityinthecaseofpatents,
trademarks,andindustrialdesigns(designpatents).
•Therightofprioritymeansthat,onthebasisofapatentapplicationfiledinone
ofthemembercountries,theapplicantmay,withinoneyear,applyforpatent
protectioninanyoftheothermembercountries.
•Theselaterapplicationswillthenberegardedasiftheyhadbeenfiledonthesame
dayasthefirstapplicationinthefirstcountry.
New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam11 May 2020 5

6. 2. Patent Cooperation Treaty(PCT)
•WhiletheParisConventionallowsapplicantstodeferdecisionsaboutfilinginmember
countriesfor12months,itstillrequiresthatapplicantsfileseparateapplicationsineach
countryinwhichtheydesireprotection.
•Foraninventorwhowishestomarkethisorherinventiononaglobalbasis,thisprocessis
time-consumingandexpensiveintheextreme.
•ThePCT,whichwasnegotiatedin1970andcameintoforcein1978,respondstothese
concernsbyprovidingacentralizedwayoffiling,searching,andexaminingpatent
applicationsinseveralcountriessimultaneously.
•Moreover,astandardizedapplicationformatisused,savingapplicantssubstantialtimeand
moneythatisordinarilyincurredinensuringthatapatentapplicationcomplieswiththe
proceduralandformattingrequirementsimposedbyeachcountry.
•ThePCTisadheredtobymorethan140countries,includingtheUnitedStates,andis
administeredbyWIPO.
•Insum,thePCTallowsaninventortofileone“international”applicationandseek
protectionfortheinventionsimultaneouslyinseveralcountries.
New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam11 May 2020 6

7. Phases in the PCT Application Process
•Therearetwomain“phases”forPCTapplications:
•The“internationalphase,”whichbeginswithfilingtheapplicationandincludes
aninternationalsearchreportandwrittenopinionandthatmayconsistoftwo
partsor“chapters,”mandatoryChapterIandanoptionalChapterII(collectively
referredtoasthe“internationalphase”);
•The“nationalphase,”whichinvolvesprosecutionoftheapplicationineach
countryinwhichtheapplicantdesirespatentprotection.
New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam11 May 2020 7

8. The PCT Application Process
The“international”applicationmaybefiledwiththepatentofficeofthemember
countryofwhichtheapplicantisanationalorresident.
Whenfiledwithanationalpatentoffice,suchastheUSPTO,theofficeissaidto
actasaPCTreceivingoffice.
Typically,applicantsfiletheirPCTapplicationswiththeirownnationalpatent
offices.
Thus,theUSPTOactsasareceivingofficeformostinternationalapplicationsfiled
bynationalsorresidentsoftheUnitedStates,andtheapplicationmaybefiled
electronicallyusingEFS-Web.
New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam11 May 2020 8

9. Cont…
EffectiveJanuary1,2004,thefilingofaninternationalapplicationautomatically
constitutesthedesignationofallcontractingcountriestothePCTonthatfiling
date,meaningthattheapplicationisviewedasrequestingpatentprotectioninthe
morethan140PCTcountries.
Ultimately,theapplicantwilldesignateorelectthosecountriesinwhichthe
applicantdesirespatentprotection.
OnlyonefilingfeeispaidforfilingthePCTapplication,whichiscalledan
“internationalpatentapplication.”
Theamountofthefilingfeegenerallydependsuponthelengthoftheapplication.
Theapplicationissimilarinformtoutilitypatentapplicationsinthatitcontains
claimsanddrawingsoftheinvention.
New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam11 May 2020 9

10. Cont…
•ChapterI:Thefilingoftheinternationalpatentapplicationtriggersthefirst
phaseofthePCTprocess,calledChapterI.
•ChapterII:AftercompletionofChapterI,theapplicantmaynowelectto
prosecutetheapplicationinindividualcountriesinwhichpatentprotectionis
desired(the“nationalphase”)ormaydelayprosecutioninthenationalphaseuntil
30months(inmostcountries)fromtheeffectivefilingdateofthePCTapplication.
•Alternatively,theapplicantmaytaketheoptionalstepofenteringChapterIIand
requestingordemandinganinternationalpreliminaryexamination.
•TheNationalPhase.If,afterthedurationofChapterItheapplicantdecidestogo
forwardwiththeapplicationinthecountriesdesignatedintheapplication,the
applicantcommencesthe“nationalphase”ofthePCTapplicationprocess.
New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam11 May 2020 10

11. 3. The European Patent Organization(EPO)
•TheEPOwasfoundedin1973toprovideauniformpatentsysteminEurope.
•AEuropeanpatentcanbeobtainedbyfilingasingleapplicationwiththeEPO
headquarteredinMunich.
•TheapplicationisdeemedtodesignateallcontractingstatesintheEPO,buttheapplicant
mustlaterconfirmthedesignationforthespecificcountriesinwhichprotectionisdesired.
•Oncegranted,thepatentisvalidinanyoftheEPOcountriesdesignatedandhasthesame
forceasapatentgrantedinanyoneofthecontractingnations.
•TheEPOcontractingnationsareAlbania,Austria,Belgium,Bulgaria,Croatia,Cyprus,
CzechRepublic,Denmark,Estonia,Finland,formerYugoslavRepublicofMacedonia,
France,Germany,HellenicRepublic(Greece),Hungary,Iceland,Ireland,Italy,Latvia,
Liechtenstein,Lithuania,Luxembourg,Malta,Monaco,Netherlands,Norway,Poland,
Portugal,Romania,SanMarino,Serbia,Slovakia,Slovenia,Spain,Sweden,Switzerland,
Turkey,andtheUnitedKingdom.
New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam11 May 2020 11

12. 4. Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)
•In2006,theU.SlauncheditsPPH,whichfast-tracksexaminationofcorresponding
patentapplicationsfiledintheUSPTOandinvariousIPofficesaroundtheworld.
•UnderthePPHprogram,anapplicantwhoreceivesarulingfroman“OfficeofFirst
Filing”thatatleastoneclaimispatentablemayrequestthatthe“OfficeofSecond
Filing”fast-tracktheexaminationofcorrespondingclaimsincorresponding
applicationsfiledintheOfficeofSecondFiling.
•TheOfficeofSecondFilingcanusetheOfficeofFirstFiling’sworkproducts,suchas
searchandexaminationreports,tostreamlineandexpeditepatentprocessing.
•TheUSPTOwilladvancetheapplicationandexamineitbeforeothersthatmayhave
beenfiledearlier.
•TheUSPTOalsobenefitsfromworkpreviouslydonebytheotheroffice,inturn
reducingworkloadandimprovingpatentquality.
New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam11 May 2020 12

13. 5. Agreement on TRIPS
•TheWorldTradeOrganization’sAgreementonTrade-RelatedAspectsof
IntellectualPropertyRights(TRIPS)wasacceptedbytheUnitedStatesin1995.
•Inadditiontoprovidingenhancedprotectionfortrademarksandcopyrights(by
specifyingthatcomputerprogramsmustbeprotectedasliteraryworks),TRIPS
alsostrengthensinternationalpatentlaw.
New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam11 May 2020 13

14. 6. Patent Law Treaty (PLT)
•NegotiationsinWIPOinthelatterhalfofthe1990sproducedthePatentLawTreaty
(PLT),whichwasadoptedinJuneof2000andenteredintoforceinApril2005.
•ThegoalofthePLTistoharmonizetheformalrequirementsestablishedbytheindividual
patentofficesaroundtheworldandstreamlinetheproceduresforobtainingand
maintainingpatents.
•ThePLTisprimarilyconcernedwithpatentformalities.
•ThePLTeliminatesoverlyburdensomerequirementsandestablisheslimitsonthe
requirementsthatcanbeimposedbythevariousnationalpatentofficesthroughoutthe
world.
•Itsimplifiesandstandardizesapplicationproceduresthatatpresentvaryfromnationto
nation.
•Thesesimplifiedproceduresmakeiteasierandlessexpensiveforindividualinventorsto
applyforpatents.
•Finally,thePLTdoesnotrequirethatarepresentativebeemployedduringallstagesof
prosecution.
New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam11 May 2020 14

15. Foreign Filing Licenses
•Toensurethatnationalsecurityisnotimpaired,apersonmaynotfileapatent
applicationinanothercountryforaninventionmadeintheUnitedStatesunless
theCommissionerofPatentsgrantsalicenseallowingtheforeignfilingoruntil
sixmonthsafterthefilingoftheU.S.applicationfortheinvention.
•Thesix-monthwaitingperiodallowstheUSPTOtoreviewapplicationsthat
mightaffectmattersofnationalsecurity.
•FilingapatentapplicationwiththeUSPTOisdeemedtobearequesttothe
Commissionerforalicensetofileanapplicationinaforeigncountry.
•TheofficialUSPTOfilingreceiptwillindicatetotheapplicantwhetherthelicense
isgrantedordenied.
•IftheinventordoesnotwishtofileanapplicationintheUnitedStatesbutprefers
tofileimmediatelyinaforeigncountry.
New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam11 May 2020 15

16. Applications for U.S. Patents by Foreign Applicants
•The patent laws of the United States make no discrimination with respect to
citizenship of the inventor.
•Anyinventor,regardlessofhisorhercitizenship,mayapplyforapatentintheUnited
StatesonthesamebasisasaU.S.citizen.
•Infact,approximately50percentofthepatentapplicationsreceivedbytheUSPTO
comefromabroad.
•IftheapplicantisacitizenofaParisConventionnationandhasfirstfiledthe
applicationinaforeigncountry,theapplicantmayclaimthefilingdateoftheearlier
filedapplication.
•TheU.S.applicationwillthenbetreatedasifitwerefiledontheearlierfilingdate.
•An oath or declaration must be made with respect to the U.S. application.
•This requirement imposed on all applicants for U.S. patents is somewhat different from
that of many foreign nations in that foreign nations often require neither the signature
of the inventor nor an oath of inventor ship.
New Developments of IPR:Dr. B.Rajalingam11 May 2020 16

17. Thank You
International of IPR Law: Dr. B.Rajalingam11 May 2020 17