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Our product is ready for manufacturing. i applied for a none-provisional application in my country. but i know this do not effect on other countries and also if i start selling product then other countries do not patent it as made public... i want to apply provisional patent application in USA UK AU Germany France china Korea and Japan for more protection and make sure i can register my patent there later after manufacturing ...

can i do all it online as uspto.gov do ?

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Why didn't you apply for an international patent in your home country? Not a WIPO member? – littleadv Aug 18 '12 at 23:00
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u can't first apply international. you need first register on ur own then u can make it international. but it take at least one year the status make clear. as we can't wait i asking is that possible protect my stuff with provisional patent application on all those countries ? is that easy ? – Ted Aug 19 '12 at 7:11
don't tell me what I can or cannot, I know exactly what I did. If your country doesn't allow it, or your attorney wants to suck more fees out of you, that's a different issue. – littleadv Aug 19 '12 at 8:40
its possible without a patent first apply it to all countries ? PCT you mean ? – Ted Aug 19 '12 at 9:17
Yes. If your country is a WIPO member, you can file an international patent. – littleadv Aug 19 '12 at 9:26
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1 Answer

Let's go back to basics ... what are you trying to protect? The original purpose of a patent was to protect the small inventor who would be given time to negotiate manufacturing, financing and distribution. What a PCT does is set the clock ticking, you have certain hurdles at fixed intervals to apply in SELECTED countries.

Nobody can afford global patent (except the MNCs), one client estimated it would be 6 figures by time lawyer and renewal fees were added up. And I mean LARGE 6 figures. Instead you pick the ones that are at most risk of

  • manufacturing base
  • key distribution hubs (eg customs clearance) in Europe
  • markets where want to eventually expand

The only major countries not belonging to PCT are Argentina, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and Iran. BTW nearly everyone belongs to WIPO but not every country has ratified every treaty. Most people find that patents are just a line in the sand, you still have to work to erect the fence, doing business intelligence on competitors, perhaps reverse engineering to discover infringement, informing customs and keeping a legal team on hand. One of the big media barons had a famous remark that lawyers are like bull pitdogs, you keep them around to scare the heebeejeebees out of everyone else.

BTW ... if your product is successful, accept that others will try to copy it (like a lock on safe, only measured in delay). You just have to come up with the next big idea before that (aka continuous incremental innovation) like the Red Queen running as fast as possible just to stay in one spot.

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