PCT Update February 23 2010 Quan-Ling SIM Head

PCT Update February 23, 2010 Quan-Ling SIM Head PCT Outreach and User Relations Section 1

142 PCT States =PCT Albania Algeria Angola Antigua and Barbuda Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahrain Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Bulgaria Burkina Faso Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Democratic People's Republic of Korea Denmark Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Estonia Finland France, Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea-Bissau Honduras Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Japan Kazakhstan Kenya Kyrgyzstan Lao People’s Dem Rep. Latvia Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Mali Malta Mauritania Mexico Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Namibia Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Nigeria Norway Oman Papua New Guinea Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Republic of Korea Republic of Moldova Romania Russian Federation Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines San Marino Sao Tomé e Principe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Swaziland St. Kitts and Nevis Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Tajikistan Thailand The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Togo Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United Republic of Tanzania United States of America Uzbekistan Viet Nam Yugoslavia Zambia Zimbabwe 2

PCT Statistics fall of 4. 5% overall in 2009 3

International Applications Received in 2009 by Country of Origin Increase/decline in certain national offices China overtakes France for the first time (and files only 120 less than KR) US: -11. 4% JP: +3. 6% DE: -11. 2% KR: +2. 1% CN: +29. 7% 4

Top PCT Applicants (2009) 1. Panasonic--JP (1891) 2. Huawei--CN (1847) 3. Bosch--DE (1586) 4. Philips--NL (1295) 5. Qualcomm--US (1280) 6. Ericsson--SE (1240) 7. LG Electronics--KR (1090) 8. NEC--JP (1069) 9. Toyota--JP (1068) 10. Sharp--JP (997) 11. Siemens--DE (932) 12. Fujitsu--JP (817) 13. BASF--DE (739) 14. 3 M--US (688) 15. Nokia--FI (663) 16. Microsoft--US (644) 17. Samsung Electronics--KR (596) 18. NXP--NL (593) 19. Mitsubishi Electric--JP (569) 20. HP--US (554) 5

The PCT International Searching Authorities The ISAs are the following 17 offices: – – – – – Australia Austria Brazil Canada China Egypt (hoping to begin operating April 2010) Finland India (not yet operating) Israel (not yet operating) Japan Republic of Korea Russian Federation Spain Sweden United States of America European Patent Office Nordic Patent Institute 6

Supplementary International Search: Authorities • Participation of ISAs – – NPI—Jan. 1, 2009 RU—Jan. 1, 2009 SE—Jan. 1, 2009—limitation to 1000 Supp. Searches/year FI—Jan. 1, 2010 (began operation January 1, 2010) – – – AT—later in 2010 AU—under consideration BR—considering offering the service in 2011 CA—no intention to offer in near future CN—under consideration EP—planned for July 1, 2010, limited initially to 700 in the first year ES—no intention, but signs of possible reevaluation IN—unknown JP—no intention KR—no intention to offer in near future US—considering offering the service through contractors 7

PCT Legal Developments • Complete set of amended claims required when amending – Instead of replacement sheets of affected claims – Entry into force: July 1, 2009 • Express indication of basis for amendment in PCT application as filed – Amended Rules 46. 5 and 66. 8 and the proposed addition of new Rule 70. 2(c-bis), requiring applicants to indicate the basis for amendments in IA as filed – Entry into force: July 1, 2010, applying to any PCT application where amendment is made on or after July 1, 2010 • Outcome in State of Florida v. Federated Institute for Patent and Trademark Registry and Bernd Taubert, Dec. 2009 8

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Please Assist Us! • WIPO is continuing to reach out to law enforcement authorities in a number of US States and other countries to try to obtain results like in the Florida Federated case • Please inform – All persons who are listed as applicants or inventors in your PCT applications (as well as in European patent applications, Madrid Agreement trademark applications and European trademark applications for that matter) about these notifications and what to do with them – All persons who might reasonably see one of these notifications in your companies or law offices • The “service” offered has no value in the opinion of WIPO – WARNING: Requests for Payment of Fees 10

PCT Meeting of International Authorities (February 2010) • • The Future of the PCT Quality Framework PCT User Survey Results Assistance for Green Inventions Supplementary International Search Paragraph Amendment of PCT Applications Future work 11

PCT Working Group Meeting (June 2010) • Studies to be prepared by the International Bureau – Background of need to improve PCT functioning, problems, challenges, causes, options, etc. (“why did we propose the PCT Roadmap? ”) – Fee reduction criteria for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – Eligibility criteria for 90% fee reductions • The PCT and Green Technologies • Third Party Observations 12

PCT and the Patent Prosecution Highway • Trilateral offices began a pilot project January 29, 2010 in which positive PCT search reports and positive International Preliminary Reports on Patentability (IPRPs) will be a basis for Patent Prosecution Highway requests in the Trilateral offices – Announced formally at the November 2009 Trilateral Conference in Kyoto – Further details available on USPTO, EPO and JPO websites 13

Practical PCT Developments (1) • Private file inspection – Document upload system available to all PCT users as of Jan. 18, 2010 • PCT Service Centre • Examples: notices of withdrawal, Art. 19 amendments, Rule 92 bis requests, SIS requests, informal comments on WO/ISA, general correspondence for IB • Limitations: 1) IB must have received Record copy 2) only post-filing documents for the IB--NOT filings of IAs • Strong preference for PDF text • Email notifications – Up to now have been able to request (from IB and participating offices) email copies of notifications in addition to paper – From Jan. 1, 2010, additional option for email only – ***Strongly recommended to opt for email only once sufficient experience has been gained with paper/email parallel receipt of notifications 14

Practical PCT Developments (2) • Priority documents – Digital Access Service (DAS) • Starting Jan. 1, 2010, International Bureau (IB) can retrieve pdocs through DAS for use with PCT applications • Thus, applicant can request IB to retrieve pdoc from DAS instead of providing a certified copy, if: – Document has been added to DAS by participating office – Applicant has used DAS web portal to give IB access to the document • Currently 7 participating offices (AU, ES, GB, IB, JP, KR, US) • How to use it: – If filing on paper, check relevant box on request form in Box No. VI – If filing electronically (PCT-SAFE and PCT-EASY): attach a letter requesting IB to retrieve pdoc using DAS—software will be updated soon to include this feature – If previously filed, send letter to IB before expiration of 16 months from priority, requesting retrieval via DAS – Direct access from digital libraries—coming soon 15

Practical PCT Developments (3) • PCT webinars • PCT distance learning • New resources for PCT applicants – PCT Caselaw database now available • Text-searchable decisions from national courts and regional administrative bodies, with abstracts and references added by IB • New version of PCT-SAFE software (Jan. 1, 2010) • PATENTSCOPE® enhancements – Full file contents available for IAs filed on or after 1 Jan. 2009 – National phase entry data now for 43 offices (recent addition of African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), Belarus, Hungary, Malaysia and the Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO), – Searchable national collections in new interface for public testing • ARIPO, Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Cuba, Mexico, Vietnam, Israel, PCT, All • 10 query language choices, 10 interface language choices, customizable settings, integration of Google. Translate, graphical results 16

Contact • PCT Information Service – Telephone: (+41 -22) 338 83 38 – Facsimile: (+41 -22) 338 83 39 – E-mail: pct. infoline@wipo. int 17