A few bumps ahead on the PCT highway

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Originally published July 5th 2016

The PCT department of the Israeli Patent Office is a flagship of the Office.  The young Search Authority in the PCT department immediately became cost-effective, first for Israeli applicants (as an option alongside US and EPO Search Authorities) and more recently for foreign applicants, i.e. for now US applicants, as bilateral agreements kick in.  In 2015 there were 195 PCT applications filed by US applicants that had Israel designated as the search authority.  60% of the Israeli applicants designate the Israeli Office for the search, no doubt a mark of confidence in the quality of the search but no less of the very tight pocket of the average Israeli.  

 

Israel Patent Office took first place in 2014 in the processing rate of the PCT applications but head of the PCT department Michael Bart aims to increase even further the gap between the Israeli PCT department and other search authorities.  As explained at a workshop on June the 30th that I attended, part of this effort is directed to upgrading the online filing system for the PCT highway.  The types of documents that can be uploaded and received will expand, and it will be possible to follow online the examination process.   As of July 20th in addition to the PCT SAFE system the ePCT system will be available for online filing.  Filing the request in xml format will grant the applicant a saving of about 665$ US in fees.  

 

The PCT department warns that as a result of the introductions there may initially be some glitches and other hiccups.

 

Howard Teff, Ph.D., 

Patent Attorney

 

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