IPWatchdog Publishes “Thinking Globally: International Patent Filing and Inventors’ Rights”

Filing a patent internationally demands attention to many considerations, including subject matter, where to file, budgets, timing, translations, and local legal and procedural frameworks. There are several jurisdiction-specific legal issues related to filing of patent applications that are more commonly appreciated such as the need to recognize where the subject invention was made and the citizenship and residency of the inventors.

As corporations reach across the world for innovative ideas, it becomes increasingly important for companies and inventors to be aware of local laws and rules regarding the jurisdiction in which a patent application must be first filed. If a patent application is first filed in a jurisdiction not permitted by these laws and rules a patent maturing from the application or a subsequently filed application claiming priority to the improperly filed application could be found invalid. Many countries have laws that require a patent directed to an invention made by a citizen or a resident of that country to be filed in that country first – prior to filing corresponding applications in other countries. In some countries it is the citizenship or residency of the inventor that is the deciding factor as to where the patent application must be first filed, while in other countries the deciding factor is where the invention was made regardless of the citizenship or residency of the inventor.

Read the full article on IPWatchdog.com.

Note

This article is an update to an earlier version, “Thinking Globally: Inventor Remuneration Rights,” published in December 2017.