Patents: protecting worldwide
Brandon IP experts, Intellectual Property attorneys, answer all your questions regarding procedures for extending your patents worldwide. Whether you have already filed a patent application or not, do not hesitate to contact us to find out more about these various procedures, sometimes complex.
Extension under priority
Have you protected your invention in a single country or region selected at the beginning of the project and now wish to secure other countries? You must know that you have a period of one year (known as the “priority period”) from the date of filing of the first patent application to extend the protection of this application to other countries, as long as the chosen countries recognize the right attached to this priority period.
This deadline is of major importance in the protection of your invention and any failure leads to irreversible consequences. This is why our teams closely monitor the deadlines in order to remind you of them in due course and anticipate them, and help you to select the territory according to the strategy you wish to adopt.
Entry into phases of an international application according to the PCT
If you have chosen an international application according to the PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) designating more than 150 countries, you have been granted an additional period of time to choose the countries in which you wish to protect your invention (30 months from the date of filing of your first patent application). It will then be necessary to enter into the regional and/or national phases of the international application, i.e. to select the countries of interest among the member countries.
To help you in this approach, we monitor all deadlines and advise you in your strategic choices. Once the countries have been selected, we take over all the required administrative and legal procedures, according to the requirements of the various national or regional Offices (translations, power of attorney, declaration of invention, patent application compliance, payment of official fees, etc.). Therefore, we rely on an extensive international network of trusted foreign associates familiar with their local practices. Like us they are responsible for maintaining and defending your rights and representing you before their national Patent Office.
Following these phase entries in the selected countries, the patent application will be examined by the national and regional Offices with a view to its grant (in Europe, the European Patent Office, in France the French Patent Office (INPI). We will of course continue to assist you throughout the examination and grant procedure as well as maintenance until the patent expiry.
Validations
You have opted for a European patent application that the European Patent Office has finally granted. This is obviously good news, but there is still one last step to fulfil. Since this European patent is not directly effective in all the designated countries (38 basic countries, 42 extended), it is now mandatory to carry out validations in all countries of interest.
Such validation process can be done on a country-by-country basis, or by applying for a unitary patent, so that your European patent can be validated only once in the 17 countries participating in the unitary patent.
See the map below:
Here again, we monitor all deadlines and assist you in your strategic choices. Once the countries or the unitary effect have been selected with you, we handle all the administrative and legal procedures required according to the requirements of the various national Offices and/or the European Patent Office (full translation, or only translations of the claims, rights, payment of official fees, etc.) through our network of foreign associates.
These services are carried out by our patent attorneys in the various technical fields concerned by your invention together with our paralegal assistants.
Experts in intellectual property close to you and your needs
Since 1866, Brandon IP, formerly known as Blétry Frères, has supported its clients in protecting and defending their intellectual property rights. It is one of the oldest intellectual property firms in France – if not the oldest to date. We support companies of all sizes and project holders in securing their inventions in a customized manner and as closely as possible to their needs. As a guarantee of our expertise, Brandon IP is ranked among the best French Patent & Trademark firms by Décideurs Magazine (Leaders League).
Our patent team is made up of patent attorneys and engineers, experts in various technical fields, as well as legal assistants. Our patent attorneys are in charge of consulting, studies, prior art searches, drafting of patent applications, etc. The paralegal assistants take care of the management of deadlines, contact with the various Offices, etc.
Find out more about our team here: www.brandon-ip.com/your-contacts/
To learn more about our services, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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