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 PCT Legal Administration

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the World of PCT
[Image - The World of PCT]
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List of PCT Contracting States

ORGANIZATION

The Office of PCT Legal Administration is comprised of two branches: PCT Special Programs and PCT Legal Affairs.

PCT Special Programs Branch PCT Legal Affairs Branch
The function of the PCT Special Programs Branch is to educate and assist the patent community with respect to the Patent Cooperation Treaty. The PCT Special Programs Branch provides training courses to help patent applicants and practitioners file PCT applications. The PCT Special Programs Branch also provides instruction to patent examiners at the USPTO concerning the search and examination of PCT applications. Furthermore, the PCT Special Programs Branch provides direct assistance regarding PCT applications via the PCT Help Desk. The PCT Legal Affairs Branch resolves legal issues relating to the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Such issues most often arise through petitions to the Commissioner in PCT international applications and in U.S. national stage applications submitted under 35 U.S.C. 371. The PCT Legal Affairs Branch also interprets and/or suggests changes to patent laws and rules and studies their effect on the Patent Cooperation Treaty. Furthermore, the PCT Legal Affairs Branch deals with other aspects of international patent law such as harmonization, the Patent Law Treaty, and electronic filing.

 

Correspondence Address
Mail Stop PCT
Commissioner for Patents
PO Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450



Location Address
Crystal Plaza 2 - 8th Floor
2011 South Clark Place
Arlington, VA 22202

 

PCT INFORMATION

An important goal of the Office of PCT Legal Administration is to provide the worldwide intellectual property community with the most innovative and up-to-date customer service involving the Patent Cooperation Treaty. In our continuing efforts to meet the rapidly growing needs of our customers on a worldwide basis and provide a user-friendly product, the Office of PCT Legal Administration offers downloadable forms and fee information needed for the filing of international applications in the United States Receiving Office (RO/US) and the prosecution of international applications before the United States International Searching Authority (ISA/US), the United States International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA/US), and the United States Designated/Elected Office (DO/EO/US).

Forms are available in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). Viewing and printing the forms requires that you have Adobe's free Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. Details concerning Adobe Acrobat Reader installation and integration with your web browser are dependent upon your computing and browsing environment and cannot be provided or supported by the USPTO.

Note: The Office of PCT Legal Administration has made every effort to ensure that the PCT forms and information available on this site are accurate and up-to-date. It is the user's responsibility to ensure that the forms and information being downloaded and used in connection with any international application are accurate and current. The Request and Demand Forms are typically updated twice a year (January and July) by the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Any newly revised forms or information should be available within 48 hours of receipt by the Office of PCT Legal Administration . A reasonable delay between the date of revision and availability on this World Wide Web site should be anticipated.

PCT MAILING LIST

The Office of PCT Legal Administration maintains a mailing list to notify PCT customers, via e-mail, of updates to the forms and other information on these pages. Requests to be placed on this list should be sent to pctupdates-request@uspto.gov. Please ensure that you include your preferred e-mail address in the request.

PCT HELP DESK

The PCT Help Desk, which provides information and assistance on the PCT process, may be reached by telephone at (703) 305-3257 between the hours of 9:00 am and 4:30 pm (EST/EDT), Monday through Friday; or by facsimile at (703) 305-2919 twenty-four hours a day.

FEEDBACK

Comments and suggestions relating to the forms and information available on this site may be directed to the Office of PCT Legal Administration by mail or facsimile. Any correspondence by mail should be addressed to Mail Stop PCT, Commissioner for Patents, PO Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450. The contents of the envelope should be addressed to the attention of Carol Bidwell mailto:Carol.Bidwell@uspto.gov. Carol may be reached by facsimile at 703-305-2919. This World Wide Web publication is for our customers, so please give us feedback. Only then can we provide you with better service.

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