To obtain a patent that is effective in Spain, you can use three channels:
- National channel.The application is drawn up following the requirements set out in the Spanish Patents Act of 20 March 1986.
- European channel:Since 1986, Spain has been a member of the European Patent Convention, which enables a set of national patents to be obtained by means of a single application to the European Patent Office (EPO).
- International channel or PCT:Since 1989, Spain has been part of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).This system enables requests for protecting an invention to be made in each of the signatory states in the International Patent Treaty (139 in 2008) using a single application.This is not a patent granting procedure, nor does it substitute patents granted by national authorities, it is a procedure for standardising procedures for international protection.
