QATAR JOINS PATENT COOPERATION TREATY

Qatar (Country Code QA) became the 143rd contracting member of the PCT on the 3rd of May, 2011. The agreement shall come into force in Qatar from 3rd August, 2011. As a consequence of the agreement coming into force, residents of Qatar are entitled to file PCT International Applications for their creations.

However, an important thing to be noted is that Qatar has reserved its rights to decline its appearance before the International Court of Justice as mentioned under Article 59 of the Agreement.

Previously, Thailand was the last country to join PCT when it became the 142nd Contracting Party on the 24th of September 2009. The PCT Receiving Office of Thailand officially opened on January 4, 2010. As of October 2010, a total of 42 PCT applications have been filed through the Thai Receiving Office.

About PCT
The Patent Cooperation Treaty, often referred to as the PCT, is an international agreement concluded in 1970, which aims at the protection of inventions and creations at an international level. All the countries which were a part of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, which was concluded in the year 1883, can become a member of the PCT. It is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The member states together are knows as the International Patent Cooperation Union.

PCT provides for an integrated system of Patent application and prosecution in among the member countries. An applicant from a member country may file a ‘PCT International Application’ directly in the International Bureau (IB) or through the Patent Office of his country acting as a Receiving Office (RO). Under this system an international search report along with a written opinion is provided by the International Search Authority (ISA) and the application is published. The applicant is then allowed to choose jurisdictions for filing national phase applications among the member countries.

Authored By: Bhargav Rao.
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