The PCT is an international treaty that has been concluded in Washington in 1970 AD and came into force action in 1974 AD; it is one of the important treaties of the international patent system because it provides an international system that facilitates the procedures for filing patent applications. It is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), its membership reached 153 members. The application filed through the treaty passes undergoes the following stages: filing, international search, international publication, additional international search (optional), international preliminary examination (optional) and the national phase.
Therefore, PCT is a system for filing patent applications which does not provide an “international patent”, as the methods for protecting patent applications are either by filing an application at the National Office and Protection within the borders of the state or by filing an application before one of the regional and protection offices at the regional level such as the Gulf Patent Office that protects the patent in the Gulf states and other regional offices.
After the PCT-related procedures are completed, patent granting procedures start at a national (or regional) patent office directly in the countries for which they are seeking patents, and patent granting remains the prerogative of national or regional patent offices, according to applicable regulations. The application is transferred to the national phase when the applicant identifies the countries in which he/she aims to protect his invention after the international phase.
The international application can be filed in Arabic or English languages.
International application filing options:
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The guide | Display |
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The guide | Display |
Note: When deciding to file an application under the PCT and to take advantage of the priority of an earlier filed application, you have to ensure that 12 months have not passed from the date of your filing of your previous application.
There are four types of fees when filing an international application, which are:
You can get more information about the treaty fees at the following website: https://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/pct/en/fees.pdf
As for the fees that has to be paid after the application enters the national phase, it shall subject to each office at which registered, and may include the fees of translation of the application, fees for filing at national (or regional) offices, fees for attorney or local patent agents, etc.
• To see the treaty timeline, click here.
• To see the frequently asked questions, click here.
After completing the international phase, the international application can enter the national phase, and this phase shall be concluded with the approval of the Patents Office to grant the patent or not.
The applicant can enter the national phase after submitting the international application (at any time during the international phase).
Required conditions:
Not required:
Required conditions:
Application form to return the right in order to enter the national phase:
The form download link.
1000 riyals, the applicant is an individual.
2000 riyals, the applicant is a company or institution (legal capacity).
Bank account details:
Bank | Alinma Bank |
IBAN | SA8105000068224248888000 |
Account Holder’s Name | Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property |
Send the application form and a copy of the payment receipt to the email: pct@saip.gov.sa