What to Know About Filing for Foreign Patents
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In the US, if you file an application on your filing receipt it’ll say foreign filing license granted or not granted. Typically, it wouldn’t get granted if it was an issue to national security is the most common reason we see. When you’re looking into foreign filing there are expenses involved you can go with the PCT route patent corporation treaty or through the Paris convention also called convention filing. Convention filing will cost you more up front and you’ll get it patent faster cause it gets in the system faster.
PCT on the other hand, delays major cost for 30 months from your earliest filing date. Some common places we’re seeing clients file are Canada, they typically see Canada as an extension of US market. It’s fairly inexpensive. Europe tends to be more expensive because you got the two attorney chain. You’re dealing with exchange rates with between US dollar and the Euro. Filing overseas in Japan is quite common as well as Korea and China. We’re seeing a dramatic increase in clients filing in China because the laws are in place especially in the bigger cities Beijing, Shanghai for an example and the courts are enforcing them in these cities where a lot of the sales are taking place. We’re seeing dramatic growth in the protection against counterfeiting in China. A lot of our clients are filing there its important to look. We’ve been to China, I’ve been over to China a couple times now and we’ve meet the firms we work with and we’re seeing more and more high quality firms being created that have quality attorneys working for them, attorneys that are working to procure your right. If you got a patent on file now in China it’ll take a couple years to prosecute it but you still have that 20 year term, and 10 years from now in China things can be dramatically different. It is a bit of a speculative gamble to file there but we think if your leaning on the edge of the curb it can pay if off in dividends 10 years from now when enforcement rights and laws are more fully involved in China.
Thanks for listening. I’m Tim Maier.
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