How to patent a product worldwide [FAQs]

Last updated : Sept 20, 2022

Can I get a worldwide patent?

The short answer is “no.” Each country has its own patent system. For example, a patent filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is only enforceable in the United States. To protect your invention globally, you need to obtain a patent in all countries you think important to your business.

What is the cost of a worldwide patent?

A worldwide patent (or PCT) cost is $3500, provided you have already filed a complete patent application. It is invaluable for what it provides the inventor: the unique license to make, use, or promote his/her invention (and to license and promote it to others who will make, use, or promote it).

Do patents hold internationally?

There is no "international patent" that will protect an invention all over the world. A separate patent must be filed in each country where the patent owner seeks protection.

Do I have to patent my product in every country?

Since the rights granted by a U.S. patent extend only throughout the territory of the United States 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 or in regional patent offices.

How long do international patents last?

A patent granted on an international application filed on or after June 8, 1995 and which enters the national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371 will have a term which ends twenty years from the filing date of the international application.

Are international patents worth it?

The benefit of worldwide patent protection is that potential buyers of your company may want protection in foreign countries. The downside to worldwide patent protection is the expense. However, cost-effective ways of preserving the right to worldwide protection and getting patents in foreign countries exist.

How can I get a patent with no money?

The Patent Pro Bono Program attempts to match inventors with registered patent agents or patent attorneys. These practitioners volunteer their time without charging the inventor. However, the inventor still must pay all fees that are required by the USPTO; these cannot be paid by the practitioner.

How long is a patent good for?

Patent protection is granted for a limited period, generally 20 years from the filing date of the application. Is a patent valid in every country? Patents are territorial rights.

Can you patent an invention in another country?

If a person wants to receive patent protection for his or her invention overseas, they will need to apply for a patent in each country. Nearly every country around the world has its own laws governing patents and an inventor must comply with the requirements of each country when filing a foreign patent application.

How much does a patent cost?

A patent attorney will usually charge between $8,000 and $10,000 for a patent application, but the cost can be higher. In most cases, you should budget between $15,000 and $20,000 to complete the patenting process for your invention. Previous: Why should you file a patent application?

How do patents work internationally?

Since the rights granted by a U.S. patent extend only throughout the territory of the United States 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 or in regional patent offices.

What product is not patented?

literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, cinematographic works, television productions and any other aesthetic creations. Mere scheme or rule or method of performing mental act or playing game. Presentation of information.

How can patent protection be taken internationally?

The only possibility to file an international patent application is through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and Paris convention which is available to nationals of all countries. There are some rules and regulations that the inventor should take into consideration.

What can and Cannot be patented?

• something that can be made or used (capable of industrial application)
• new.
• inventive – not just a modification to something that already exists.

How long do patents take to get approved?

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), it takes about 22 months to get patent approval after going through the steps to file a patent. If you're eligible for a prioritized examination for plant and utility patents, known as Track One, you might get approval in six to 12 months.

Can you sell a patented product?

The U.S. Supreme Court in a recent ruling has opined on the rights of a purchaser to use and resell patented products. The patent system give the patent owner the right to exclude others from making, using, and selling the patented invention, for the life of the patent.

Which countries should I patent in?

• United States.
• China.
• Japan.
• Korea.
• Europe.

What percentage of patents make money?

Analysts report that more than 95% of patents are worthless-- not because patents as a class are worthless, but because companies fail to understand one simple principle that makes patents powerful. To understand, it is helpful to take a step back and first consider the differences between strong and weak patents.

What are the 3 types of patents?

What kind of patent do you need? There are three types of patents - Utility, Design, and Plant. Utility patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or compositions of matters, or any new useful improvement thereof.

How do you do a poor man's patent?

The theory behind the “poor man's patent” is that, by describing your invention in writing and mailing that documentation to yourself in a sealed envelope via certified mail (or other proof-of-delivery mail), the sealed envelope and its contents could be used against others to establish the date that the invention was ...

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Thanks for this great article

Thanks for your comment Colin Marlin, have a nice day.
- Oswaldo Wig, Staff Member

what is the international patent process this video is going to give you all you need to know about filing patents outside of the united states and give the information on your different options for filing in foreign countries so if you're new here my name is dylan adams i'm a patent attorney and author of the best-selling book patents demystified which is an insider's guide to protecting ideas and inventions used by inventors entrepreneurs and startups worldwide including top universities like harvard stanford and mit you also might recognize me from my appearance on cnbc's hit show the profit with marcus lemonis so this channel is all about giving you the insider information about how i help my clients whether they be fortune 100 companies startups or shark tank companies protect their ideas and inventions so hit the subscribe button and the little bell icon so you get notifications of when new videos come out all right let's get right into it so the first thing i want to point out when it comes to the international patent process is there's no such thing as an international patent and people throw that term around and it leads people to think that you have a united states patent and then there can be this patent that covers the rest of the world or covers a lot of different jurisdictions and that's just not the case patents are jurisdiction by jurisdiction and so for instance you could have a united states patent and you can stop people from making using selling offering to sell the claimed invention within the bounds the united states or importing into the united states but you would have to have a patent in any specific other country to stop people from doing stuff there so for instance you know if you want to stop activity in canada you'd have to have a canadian patent if you want to stop uh activity going on in germany you would need a german patent if you want to stop stuff going on in china you need a chinese patent etc etc so patents in international countries are jurisdiction by jurisdiction so when people talk about an international patent what people are a lot of times referring to is there is an international patent application called a pct application which covers just about any jurisdiction and most of the important jurisdictions and i'll talk about pct applications in a moment so that's the important thing to note right off the bat is patents are jurisdiction by jurisdiction there's not some wide blanket uh international patent okay so there are two main ways that you're going to be able to file patent applications or or routes that you're going to be able to file foreign patent applications and when i'm talking about foreign keep in mind i'm talking about outside the u.s so i'm a u.s patent attorney i work with foreign patent applications all the time and so when we talk about foreign you know it's sort of non-u.s patent application so definitely keep that in mind so the two ways one is going to be by filing that pct application which i talked about or you can do direct national applications so with direct national applications you have to file those directly in each country and you have to do that that's sort of your first step okay it's very very expensive to do that filing fees are really expensive in each country and most countries require what are called annuities to keep the application pending um and you know like kind of like you know there are maintenance fees in the u.s once that application is issued a lot of foreign countries require yearly annuities to keep the application pending in addition to annuities once the application is issued filing fees can be really expensive in each jurisdiction varies by jurisdiction to jurisdiction and also you know kind of on the currency differences but then also there can be translations some countries require translations which can be expensive so if you're going to be starting the process with direct national phase at national applications it's a pretty expensive way to go so typically the way that we do it for most clients we file what's called a pct application so the pct application pct stands for paris cooperation treaty and it's really an international tree that just about every country has with each other that says hey if you file this unified pct application it's a placeholder then gives you time to then file national phase applications in each jurisdiction so a good way to think of it it's almost like a provisional patent application for international applications so you file the pct application and that's going to give you typically it's going to be it's going to be 18 months from when you file the pct application or really it's going to be 30 months from your original priority date and i'll get into the original priority date and what we typically do to start the the patent process and then do foreign so it's going to be typically about 30 months from your original priority date some countries are 31 months but just assume that it's going to be 30 months from your original priority date because that's you know it's better to kind of start the process um early as possible because what a lot of people don't realize is that hey you know you can't just file an you know a national phase application immediately sometimes you have to you know get all these these notarizations you have to get translations and sometimes it can take weeks if not months to actually file in certain foreign jurisdictions but i kind of digress so let's kind of talk about um the pct application and what countries you can file in and sort of the the timeline for that so the pct covers just about every every important country there are you know probably the good example of one that isn't covered is taiwan and it's because of sort of the political issues with china taiwan is not covered in the pct so if you're going to go into taiwan to you know if you if you're going in at the at the foreign deadline you have to go in directly you can't file a pct application wait 18 months or 30 months from your original filing date um and go into national phase countries and so let me let me get into the way we typically do uh the process with with foreign and why i keep on saying 18 or 30 months so what we typically do is we file a provisional patent application and that's the best way especially for startups and small companies to start the patent process a provisional patent application is just a placeholder you file it it waits in line at the united states patent trademark office and and automatically expires after one year that term cannot be extended so at the end of that year you have to file the united states non-provisional patent application to be able to claim priority back to the provisional application that that being to get the priority of the filing date of the provisional application you have to file the non-provisional within the year that the provisional is is filed so with foreign applications you have a year from your first first priority date to file foreign applications so the deadline to file your foreign applications is going to be year from the provisional just like the u.s non-p

Thanks tacsisj your participation is very much appreciated
- Oswaldo Wig

About the author

Oswaldo Wig

I've studied marine biology at University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu and I am an expert in police science. I usually feel good. My previous job was air crew officer I held this position for 12 years, I love talking about roller skating and bouldering. Huge fan of The Lonely Island I practice hang gliding and collect swarovski figurines.