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Foreign patent applications can be filed based on U.S.
pending application on a country-by-country basis through our foreign
associates, which we have developed throughout the world.
Alternately, an international filing can be made under the P.C.T (Patent
Cooperation Treat) or the E.P.C. (European Patent Convention). And
E.P.C. application, for example, can be based on a pending U.S.
patent application and is filed in either London
or Munich through one of our
longtime associates who provide filing and prosecution of the application
through the European system based on our instructions.
The cost of international filings can be high given the requirement of
using foreign associates and their associated fees and it is our
recommendation that careful analysis and thought be made concerning the
advisability of filing foreign applications dependent on the market
potential of your invention in those areas.
It is also important to note that any foreign application must be filed
before the U.S.
patent application issues since an issues U.S.
patent becomes a statutory bar in filing any foreign case.
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