The PCT procedure facilitates the processing of applications for the protection of inventions when said protection is sought for several countries, establishing a system whereby the filing of a single application reproduces the same effect as if the application had been filed in each of the countries that form part of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) (136 on 1 January 2007).
It is important to clarify that it is not a patent granting procedure, nor does it replace the granting of national patents, rather it is a system which unifies the processing before the granting. Furthermore, this procedure allows you to "buy time", since you can delay your decision to enter in the national phase for a period of up to 30 months from the international or priority filing date, if applicable, and keep your invention secret for a minimum of 18 months, which can be useful for testing its feasibility and avoiding unnecessary expenses.
The SPTO acts as a receiving office for international PCT applications whose holders are Spanish or with residence in Spain.
