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Foreign Patents
Since the rights granted by a U.S. patent extend only throughout
the territory of the U.S. and have no effect in a foreign country,
an inventor who wishes patent protection in other countries must
apply for a patent in each of the other countries. Almost every
country has its own patent law, and a person desiring a patent in
a particular country must make an application for patent in that
country.
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
The PCT is presently followed by over
90 countries, including the U.S. The treaty facilitates the filing
of applications for patent on the same invention in member counties
by providing, among other thins, for centralized filing procedures
and a standardized application format.
The timely filing of an international
application affords applicants an international filing date in each
country which is designated in the international application and
provides (1) a search of the invention and (2) a later time period
within which the national applications for patent must be filed.
Under U.S. law it is necessary,
in the case of inventions made in the U.S., to obtain a license
from the Director of the USPTO before applying for a patent in a
foreign country. Such a license is required if the foreign application
is to be filed before an application is filed in the U.S. or before
the expiration of six months from the filing of an application in
the U.S.
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