PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty)

The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international treaty, administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The PCT is a system facilitating the worldwide filing of patent applications. The PCT makes it possible to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in each of a large number of countries (who are contracting states to the PCT) by first filing a single "international" patent application. Later, the granting of patents remains under the control of the national or regional patent Offices in what is called the "regional phase" or "national phase."