Thursday, 5 July 2012

WIPO and Indian Patent Office Come Together to Simplify the Process of Filing PCT Applications in India


July 6, 2012: Good news for applicants who are looking to file their PCT national phase applications in India! The Indian Patent Office (IPO) has coordinated with the International Bureau (IB) of WIPO to share resources that will eliminate the redundant process that currently exist to submit a PCT national phase application in India. The IPO will now have access to the PCT International applications and the related documents that are available at the IB.

From July 6, 2012, an applicant will no longer be required to file multiple copies of documents that have already been submitted by the applicant at the IB. The IPO will itself electronically acquire the necessary documents required for the PCT national phase applications from the IB.

The IPO has issued instructions for the applicants to make them aware of the changes in the process.  Some of the important changes are that an applicant needs to fill only columns 1, 2, and 3 in Form 2. Additionally, the last page of claims (first page, if claims comprise of only one page) with date and signature also needs to be submitted. Needless to say, all other documents that are applicable will still need to be filed. The complete set of instruction can be accessed here.

An important point to be highlighted is that the changes will be applicable to only those PCT national phase applications entering India which do not claim priority of any PCT national phase application filed previously in India.
Source: http://www.ipindia.nic.in/iponew/PublicNotice_PCT_02July2012.pdf

2 comments:

  1. Given their successful track record, it seems likely that the PCT-PPH patent programs will not only become permanent, but will eventually extend to every major economy worldwide. Combined with the Cooperative Patent Classification system, total international harmonization looks inevitable.

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