Foreign Patent Prosecution Best Practices.

The Foreign Patent Prosecution Best Practices Report analyzes a diverse group of twenty-two patent-driven global companies.

Foreign patent applications may be filed in various ways, including national patent applications filed in each country, a regional European patent application covering certain designated European countries, filing under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) or European Patent Office (EPO), and various combinations thereof.

In addition to identifying advantageous jurisdictions to protect your inventions, there are many options for foreign filing. Intellectual Property (IP) leaders must consider several factors when handling their foreign prosecution. This survey was designed to explore the key considerations and identify the prevailing and best practices.

This best practice benchmark report includes the following:

• Prevalence of and reasons for accelerated examinations.
• Usage of domestic counsel for oversight of foreign patent prosecution.
• Usage of PCT or EP and reasons.
• Frequency of PCT filings that enter the national phase.
• Selection of search and examination authority.
• Most significant challenges of foreign prosecution.