Patent Law Treaty Explained

The Patent Law Treaty (PLT) is a treaty signed on 1 June 2000 in Geneva, Switzerland, by 53 States and the European Patent Organisation (an intergovernmental organization). It entered into force on April 28, 2005. It aims at harmonizing and streamlining formal procedures such as the requirements to obtain a filing date for a patent application, the form and content of a patent application, and representation. The treaty "does not establish a uniform procedure for all parties to the PLT but leaves parties free to require fewer or more user-friendly requirements than those provided in the PLT."^[1] As of February 2023, the PLT had 43 contracting states.^[2]

History

Date! State

28 April 2005	Republic of Moldova, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of Slovenia, Slovak Republic, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Ukraine, Republic of Estonia, Kingdom of Denmark, Republic of Croatia, Romania
15 December 2005	Bahrain
6 March 2006	Finland
22 March 2006	United Kingdom (including the Isle of Man)
19 July 2006	Uzbekistan
16 October 2007	Oman
27 December 2007	Sweden
12 March 2008	Hungary
1 July 2008	Switzerland
16 March 2009	Australia
12 August 2009	Russia
18 December 2009	Liechtenstein
5 January 2010	France
22 April 2010	North Macedonia
17 May 2010	Albania
12 June 2010	Latvia
20 August 2010	Serbia
27 December 2010	Netherlands (the whole Kingdom, except Aruba)
19 October 2011	Kazakhstan
3 February 2012	Lithuania
9 March 2012	Montenegro
9 May 2012	Bosnia and Herzegovina
27 May 2012	Ireland
3 August 2013	Saudi Arabia
17 September 2013	Armenia
18 December 2013	United States
11 June 2016	Japan
21 October 2016	Belarus
4 January 2017	Liberia
22 August 2018	North Korea
25 June 2019	Antigua and Barbuda
30 October 2019	Canada
19 July 2021	Turkmenistan

France

Prior to the entry into force of the treaty in France, a bill was submitted on 14 January 2009 at the French Senate proposing the ratification of the PLT by France.^{[3] [4]} In March 2009, a report from French Senator Rachel Mazuir recommended the ratification of the PLT, as soon as possible, by France.^{[5] [6]} On 24 July 2009, the government was authorized to ratify the PLT.^[7] The PLT then entered into force for France on 5 January 2010.^[2]

United States

The Treaty was transmitted from the President to the Senate in 2006. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee issued its Executive Report 110-6 in November 2007. Non-self-executing portions of the PLT were implemented as statute by the Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012, Pub. Law 112-211 (Dec. 12, 2012). The PLT was ratified by the United States on 18 September 2013, and the ratification instrument was forwarded to WIPO. The Patent Office's implementing regulations were proposed at 78 Fed. Reg. 21788 (Apr. 11, 2013) and issued as a Final Rule at 78 Fed. Reg. 62367 (Oct. 21, 2013).

Mexico

Article 20(7)(3) of the proposed new NAFTA, in December 2019, stated that "Each Party shall give due consideration to ratifying or acceding to the PLT, or, in the alternative, shall adopt or maintain procedural standards consistent with the objective of the PLT".^[8]

See also

• Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
• Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)
• Substantive Patent Law Treaty (SPLT)
• Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (GRATK)
• European Convention relating to the Formalities required for Patent Applications (1953)

Further reading

• Mulder . Cees . Patent Law Treaty: Promises Not Delivered-How the Negotiations Resulted in Ambiguities in the Treaty: Patent Law Treaty . The Journal of World Intellectual Property . November 2014 . 17 . 5–6 . 160–190 . 10.1002/jwip.12028 . en.

External links

• Patent Law Treaty in the WIPO Lex database – official website of WIPO.
  • The full text of the Patent Law Treaty

Notes and References

1. Mulder . Cees . van Woudenberg . Roel . New Rule 56a and amendments to Rule 56 EPC - Background, requirements and consequences . Epi Information . 2022 .
2. Web site: Contracting Parties > Patent Law Treaty (Total Contracting Parties: 43) . WIPO. 29 March 2023.
3. French Senate web site, Sénat, Session Ordinaire de 2008–2009, Annexe au procès-verbal de la séance du 14 janvier 2009, Projet de Loi autorisant la ratification du traité sur le droit des brevets, 14 January 2009. Consulted on 22 January 2009
4. Laurent Teyssedre, Ratification du PLT, Le blog du droit européen des brevets, 20 January 2009. Consulted on 22 January 2009
5. French Senate web site, Annexe au procès-verbal de la séance du 17 mars 2009, Rapport fait au nom de la commission des Affaires étrangères, de la défense et des forces armées sur le projet de loi autorisant la ratification du traité sur le droit des brevets, Par M. Rachel Mazuir, Sénateur
6. Laurent Teyssedre, Ratification du PLT (suite), Le blog du droit européen des brevets, 25 March 2009. Consulted on 29 March 2009
7. JORF n°0170 du 25 juillet 2009 page 12409, texte n° 3, LOI n° 2009-892 du 24 juillet 2009 autorisant la ratification du traité sur le droit des brevets, NOR: MAEJ0815903L
8. Book: CHAPTER 20: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS: Section A: General Provisions.