USPTO and Rospatent Announce Patent Cooperation Treaty Agreement
20-Dec-2011
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WASHINGTON - The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) have implemented an agreement under which Rospatent will act as an available International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) for international applications filed with the USPTO as the Receiving Office (RO/US), under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). A press release by the USPTO stated that the starting date for the agreement is January 10, 2012.
The addition of Rospatent as an available ISA/IPEA choice will allow applicants additional flexibility in choosing a given international authority based on the technology disclosed in the international application, speed of services provided and cost of obtaining searches and examinations of international applications. An applicant selecting Rospatent as the ISA will pay a search fee of USD 415. An applicant selecting Rospatent as the IPEA will pay an international preliminary examination fee in USD of an amount equivalent to RUB 5400 and a handling fee of USD 219. If the applicant does not have the international search performed by Rospatent, the examination fee will be the USD amount equivalent to RUB 8100. Further details on the use of Rospatent as an ISA/IPEA for applications filed in the RO/US will be made available on the USPTO Web site.
“The collaboration between the USPTO and Rospatent will be beneficial for US applicants as it will provide additional choices at a lower cost,” said USPTO Director David Kappos in his remarks.
Director General of Rospatent, Boris Simonov noted that “implementation of the Agreement is an important step in bilateral cooperation between the Offices and will promote better quality of patent examination.”
The PCT is an international agreement that simplifies the filing of patent applications in its contracting States. A PCT application has the effect of a national application for a patent in any of the designated PCT States. International applicants receive an International Search Report and an International Preliminary Report on Patentability to help them determine if an application meets basic patentability criteria before committing to the high cost of translating and entering the national stage in one or more PCT countries. The USPTO and Rospatent are two of the intellectual property offices authorized to conduct international searches and international preliminary examinations in the PCT system.