Changes to the PCT System Since January 1st, 2004

2004-01-01

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CHANGESTOTHEPCTSYSTEMSINCEJANUARY1ST,2004

NadineBeauger,DavidEncisoandLucMorin*
LEGERROBICRICHARD
,L.L.P.
Lawyers,PatentandTrademarkAgents
CentreCDPCapital
1001Square-Victoria–BlocE–8thFloor
Montreal,Quebec,CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.(514)9876242–Fax(514)8457874
www.robic.ca–info@robic.com

ThePCT(“PatentCooperationTreaty”)makesthestepsofobtainingpatentsin
manycountrieseasierthroughthefilingofasingleinternationalapplication
writteninonlyoneofficiallanguageandfiledbeforeasingleoffice.
OnJanuary1
st,2004,certainchangesweremadetothePCTsystem.
AWrittenOpinionisnowbeingprovidedwiththeInternationalSearchReport
(ISR)establishedbytheInternationalSearchingAuthority(ISA)underChapterI
ofthePCTprocedures.TheISRstillliststhepriorartdocumentsconsideredthe
mostrelevanttotheinventionasfoundbytheISA.Asbefore,theISAassignsa
categorytoeachofthedocumentsbasedonitsrelevancewithrespectto
theinventionclaimedintheapplication.WiththerecentchangestothePCT
system,theISAnowalsoprovidesanOpinionexplainingthereasonswhich
motivatedthemtoassignsuchcategorytoeachdocument.Undertheold
system,theApplicantwasentitledtoreceivesuchaWrittenOpiniononly
afterfilingaRequestforExaminationunderChapterIIofthePCTregulations
alongwithpaymentoftheapplicableregulatoryfees.However,entryinto
ChapterIIhadanothereffect,namelytoextendbyten(10)monthsthetime
limitforproceedingwiththenationalphaseentriesinthevariouscountries.
Nowthetimelimitisunconditionallyextendedwithouttheneedtorequest
examinationoftheApplicationunlesstheApplicantoptstoproceeddirectly
withtheNationalPhaseentriesincertaincountriesinsteadofproceeding
accordingtotheregionalphasealternativeforthesecountries.TheApplicant
cantakeadvantageofthisextendedtimelimittocommercializethe
invention,evaluateitscommercialpotential,seekfinancing,etc.,withoutany
additionalcosts.IntheeventthattheISRandtheWrittenOpinionare
negative,theApplicantwillhavemoreinformationathisdisposalindeciding
whetheraRequestforExaminationoftheapplicationunderChapterIIis

©CIPS,2004.*OfLEGERROBICRICHARD,L.L.P.,amultidisciplinaryfirmoflawyers,andpatentand
trademarkagents.PublishedintheFall2004issue(Vol.8,No.4)issueofourNewsletter.
Publication068.064E.

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relevantornottotryoverturningthepositionheldbytheISA.Thistakeson
evenmoreimportancegiventhatconclusionspresentedintheInternational
PreliminaryExaminationReport(IPER)arelikelytoinfluencethepositionthat
theNationalPatentOfficeswilltakewithregardtopatentabilityofthe
invention.
Inthisconnection,theIPERisnowprovidedbytheInternationalPreliminary
ExaminingAuthority(IPEA)attheendofthePCTprocedures(30or31months
fromthefiling/prioritydateofthePCTapplication,dependingonthe
countries),whetherornottheApplicanttookadvantageoftheexamination
proceduresunderChapterII.Ifnoexaminationtakesplace,theIPERissimply
modeledontheWrittenOpinion.Otherwise,considerationsresultingfromthe
exchangesmadebetweentheApplicantandtheIPEAwithregardto
patentabilityoftheinventionandotherpracticerequirementsarereportedin
theIPER.
Underthenewregulations,allcontractingStatesboundbythePCTare
automaticallydesignated,thuseliminatingrisksofinvoluntaryomissions,
contrarytothepreviousregulations.
Withregardtocosts,aflatinternationalfilingfeenowreplacestheseparate
basicanddesignationfeespreviouslyrequired.
AsofJuly26
th,2004,CIPOhasbecomeboththeISAandtheIPEAfor
international(PCT)applicationsfiledbyCanadianApplicants(residentsand
citizens).Accordingly,allofthePCTproceduresarenowundertakenbyCIPO
andnolongerbytheEuropeanPatentOffice(EPO).
Thisadministrativechangeismoreadvantageousincertainrespectsfor
CanadianApplicants.Amongothers,atapecuniarylevel,allregulatoryfees
requiredunderPCTregulationswillbecollectedbyCIPOinCanadiandollars.
TheexchangeratebetweenCanadaandEuropeisnolongerafactorinthe
calculationofcertainregulatoryfees.Moreover,itappearsthatthefeefor
theInternationalPreliminaryExaminationrequiredbyCIPOissignificantly
lower(evenlowerthanhalfconsideringtheexchangeratewithEurope)than
whentheexaminationwascarriedoutbytheEPO.However,undertheold
PCTregulations,incaseswheretheApplicantsproceededunderthe
EuropeanPatentConvention(EPC),therewasa75%feereductionsince
almosttheentireexaminationofthePCTapplicationwasalreadycompleted
byanEPOExaminer.Now,sincetheexaminationisconductedbyCIPO,
CanadianApplicantscannolongerbenefitfromthisfeereduction.However,
thehigherPCTexaminationcostswillnolongerhavetobeassumedby
ApplicantswhochoosenottoprosecutetheapplicationbeforetheEPO.

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InternationalsearchespreviouslycarriedoutbytheEPOwereinterestingfor
CanadianApplicantssincethesearchingmethodologyofEPOisdifferent
fromCIPO.Theresultsofinternationalsearcheswereoftencomplementaryto
theresultsproducedfrom,forexample,preliminarypatentabilitysearches
madebypatentagentsbeforefilinganInternationalApplication.Therewas
alowerriskofuncertaintyofhavingarelevantdocumentcitedbyan
Examinerduringthesubsequentnationalprosecutions.CanadianApplicants
nolongerhavethisadvantage
However,examinationofthePCTapplicationsnowcarriedoutbya
CanadianExaminerislikelytofacilitateprosecutionforCanadianApplicants
whowillnolongerhavetofaceformalobjectionsrelatedtorequirements
specifictoEuropeanpractice,aswasthecasebefore.Moreover,Canadian
andAmericanpracticesaresimilarwithregardtotheformatofpatent
applications.Bycontrast,forApplicantsproceedingbeforetheEPOafterthe
internationalphase,ahigherlevelofinterventionwillprobablybenecessary
tobringtheapplicationinlinewithEPCrequirements.However,these
interventionswillberestrictedtotheEuropeanapplication.Thisisamajor
advantagegiventhatthecaselawinsomecountriessuchastheUnited
States,istotheeffectthateachinterventionmayhaveanegativeimpacton
thelevelofprotectionobtainedfortheinvention.
TheinternationalexaminationnowbeingconductedbyCIPOinsteadofEPO
mayalsohaverepercussionsgiventhepositiontakenbyCIPOregardingthe
patentabilityofcertainkindsofsubject-matterincomparisonwithEPOand
othercountries,suchasthepatentabilityofhigherlifeforms,softwareand
businessmethods.CIPOhasyettoindicatehowPCTapplicationsrelatingto
thistypeofsubject-matterwillbehandled.
MoreinformationonthePCTregulationsisavailableonourGroup’swebsiteat
www.robic.ca.

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