Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)

The PCT is an international treaty, administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WlPO), entered into force in 1978, between more than 125 Paris Convention countries. The PCT makes it possible to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in each of a large number of countries by filing a single "international" patent application instead of filing several separate national or regional patent applications. The granting of patents remains under the control of the national or regional patent Offices in what is called the "national phase". India joined the PCT on December 7, 1998. The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) has now been signed by 142 countries as of July 2010 and four regional patent systems.