Go to MPEP - Table of Contents
** The USPTO will hold the national stage papers sent by the International Bureau awaiting applicant's submissions for entry into the national stage. The international application is examined and the results (the international preliminary examination report) are received by the USPTO for inclusion into the national stage file. The examination report is communicated to the elected Offices by the International Bureau.
The notice of election is communicated to the elected Office along with the PCT Article 20 communication or as soon thereafter as the International Bureau receives notice of the election. Election of a Contracting State, of course, is not possible unless that state was designated.
(a)
(1) A national application as used in this chapter means a U.S. application for patent which was either filed in the Office under 35 U.S.C. 111, or which entered the national stage from an international application after compliance with 35 U.S.C. 371.
(2) A provisional application as used in this chapter means a U.S. national application for patent filed in the Office under 35 U.S.C. 111(b).
(3) A nonprovisional application as used in this chapter means a U.S. national application for patent which was either filed in the Office under 35 U.S.C. 111(a), or which entered the national stage from an international application after compliance with 35 U.S.C. 371.
*****
Thus, there are three types of U.S. national applications: a national stage application under the PCT (**>an application which entered the national stage in the U.S. from an international application after compliance with< 35 U.S.C. 371), a regular domestic national application filed under 35 U.S.C. 111(a), and a provisional application filed under 35 U.S.C. 111(b).
An applicant who uses the Patent Cooperation Treaty gains the benefit of
(A) a delay in the time when papers must be submitted to the national offices;
(B) an international search (to judge the level of the relevant prior art) before having to expend resources for filing fees, translations and other costs;
(C) a delay in the expenditure of fees;
(D) additional time for research;
(E) additional time to evaluate financial, marketing, commercial and other considerations.
The time delay is, however, the benefit most often recognized as primary. Ultimately, applicant might choose to submit the national stage application. The national stage is unique compared to a domestic national application in that
(A) it is submitted later (i.e., normally ** 30 months or more from a claimed priority date as compared to 12 months for a domestic application claiming priority).
(B) the status of the prior art is generally known before the national stage begins and this is not necessarily so in a domestic national application.
(C) if the filing of an international application is to be taken into account in determining the patentability or validity of any application for patent or granted patent, then special provisions apply. See MPEP § 1895.01, subsection (E) and MPEP § 1896.
**
Once the national stage application has been accorded an application number (the two digit series code followed by a six digit serial number), that number as well as the international application number should be used whenever papers or other communications are directed to the USPTO regarding the national stage application. The national stage application is tracked through the Patent Application Locating and Monitoring (PALM) system by the eight digit U.S. application number. Therefore, processing is expedited if the U.S. application number is indicated. The international application number is helpful for identification purposes and can be used to cross-check a possibly erroneous U.S. application number. Of course, the international filing date and the national stage entry date under 35 U.S.C. 371 should also be provided. See 37 CFR 1.5(a).
Go to MPEP - Table of Contents