Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Working Group
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Annex 1 E PCT/WG/11/27 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH DATE: JANUARY 11, 2019 Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Working Group Eleventh Session Geneva, June 18 to 22, 2018 REPORT adopted by the Working Group 1. The Patent Cooperation Treaty Working Group held its eleventh session in Geneva from June 18 to 22, 2018. 2. The following members of the Working Group were represented at the session: (i) the following Member States of the International Patent Cooperation Union (PCT Union): Algeria, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Czech Republic, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe (69); and (ii) the following intergovernmental organizations: the European Patent Office (EPO), the Nordic Patent Institute (NPI), and the Visegrad Patent Institute (VPI) (3). 3. The following Member States of the International Union for the Protection of Industrial Property (Paris Union) participated in the session as an observer: Mauritius, Yemen (2). 4. The following intergovernmental organizations were represented by observers: African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO), African Union (AU), Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO), European Union (EU), Patent Office of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC Patent Office), South Centre (7). PCT/WG/11/27 page 2 5. The following international non-governmental organizations were represented by observers: Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA), Institute of Professional Representatives Before the European Patent Office (EPI), International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI), International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI), International Institute for Intellectual Property Management (I3PM), Knowledge Ecology International Inc. (KEI), Union of European Practitioners in Industrial Property (UNION-IP) (7). 6. The following national non-governmental organizations were represented by observers: American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), Japan Intellectual Property Association (JIPA), Japan Patent Attorneys Association (JPAA) (3) 7. The list of participants is contained in the Annex. OPENING OF THE SESSION 8. Mr. Francis Gurry, Director General of WIPO opened the session and welcomed the participants. Mr. Michael Richardson (WIPO) acted as Secretary to the Working Group. 9. The Director General informed the Working Group that, at the beginning of June, the landmark of 40 years of operations under the PCT was reached. From the first international application filed on June 1, 1978, the total number of filings of international applications was now close to 3.5 million. This figure testified to the great success of the PCT System, which was a very successful example of international cooperation that relied on many different actors in order to make it functional. 10. The Director General reported on a few of the key developments in the PCT System since the tenth session of the Working Group. 2017 was another successful year for the PCT System. In terms of International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authorities, the Director General congratulated the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines on its appointment by the Assembly in October 2017 as the twenty-third International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authority. In addition, the appointments of all other International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authorities were extended by a period of ten years until the end of 2026, and the Director General thanked all Authorities for their extraordinarily important work in the PCT System. In terms of results in 2017, the number of international applications filed rose by 4.5 per cent to 243,500 applications, recording the eighth consecutive year of growth in the PCT. It was pleasing that applications were received from applicants in 126 different countries, which was testimony to the international character of the PCT. The number of different applicants using the PCT passed 50,000 for the first time in 2016, and last year that number increased by 6.2 per cent to 55,000 different applicants throughout the world. On World Intellectual Property Day this year, WIPO celebrated the role of women in innovation and creativity. It was encouraging to see the statistics maintained by the Office of the WIPO Chief Economist in this regard. At least one woman was named among the inventors in 31 per cent of international applications published in 2017. While this was a relative low percentage, it marked a significant improvement compared to a decade earlier when 23 per cent of international applications included a woman inventor. The top country of origin of international applications under the PCT in 2017 was, again, the United States of America with 56,624 applications. China again recorded double digit growth, with the number of international applications of Chinese origin increasing by 13.4 per cent, becoming the second largest source of international applications under the PCT with 48,882 international applications, just ahead of Japan, which was the source of 48,208 applications, some 600 international applications fewer. In terms of top applicants, Huawei moved into first position with slightly more than 4,000 international applications published in 2017, taking the top spot from its compatriot ZTE Corporation which was the second highest applicant in terms published international applications with nearly 3,000 international applications for 2017. In terms of numbers of PCT/WG/11/27 page 3 national phase entries, there was a slight decline of 1.4 per cent in 2016 with 615,000 national phase entries. That represented the first drop since 2009 and reflected fewer designations from applications originating from the United States of America in 2016. 11. In addition to the PCT System reaching 40 years of operations, the Director General informed delegations that it was 10 years since the first session of the PCT Working Group. On this occasion, the Director General thanked all members of the Working Group for the extraordinary work done within the Working Group in keeping the PCT System up-to-date and for the extraordinary workload that had been accomplished by the Working Group. This session was no different, with 25 working documents to consider. In addition, two workshops would take place, one of PCT fee reductions and the other on correction of erroneously-filed elements and parts. The Director General thanked the two Chairs of the those workshops, Mr. John Sandage, Deputy Director General, and Mr. Paul Harrison, Co-Chair of the Patents Committee of the Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA) and a regular participant in the work of the PCT. Looking at the agenda, the Director General highlighted two items. The first was the document prepared by the International Bureau discussing appropriate action to be taken by WIPO and its Member States with regard to international patent applications related to persons or technologies that were the subject of United Nations Security Council Sanctions. The second was the document on future development of the PCT based on a Memorandum that was issued in 2017 on the occasion of the publication of the 3 millionth application under the PCT. Looking back over 40 years, the system had been an extremely successful example of international cooperation and the cornerstone of the patent system worldwide. The future of the PCT System was of fundamental importance, first of all, to this Organization since the PCT was the source of nearly 77 per cent of the income to WIPO, and also to the functioning of the patent system worldwide. ELECTION OF A CHAIR AND TWO VICE-CHAIRS 12. The Working Group unanimously elected Mr. Victor Portelli (Australia) as Chair for the session. There were no nominations for Vice-Chairs. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA 13. The Working Group adopted the revised draft agenda as proposed in document PCT/WG/11/1 Prov. 3. PCT STATISTICS 14. The Working Group noted a presentation by the International Bureau on the most recent PCT statistics1. 15. The Delegation of the United States of America informed the Working Group that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) would issue U.S. patent number 10 million that day (June 19, 2018). This patent would also be the first to receive a new patent cover design. PCT USER SURVEY 16. The Working Group noted a presentation by the International Bureau on the results of the PCT User Survey 20172. 1 The presentation is available on the WIPO website at: https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/pct_wg_11_statistics. 2 The presentation is available on the WIPO website at: https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/pct_wg_11_user_survey. PCT/WG/11/27 page 4 MEETING OF INTERNATIONAL AUTHORITIES UNDER THE PCT: REPORT ON THE TWENTY-FIFTH SESSION 17. Discussions were based on document PCT/WG/11/2. 18. The Delegation of the United Kingdom stated that it was