WIPO and PATSTAT (I)

Among the many patent offices, Patstat contains data from WIPO/PCT; such data cannot be treated like others patent offices, because of the very different application procedure.
Let's give as a first step some definitions taken from www.wipo.int and epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu:

The WIPO-administered Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) provides for the filing of a single international patent application which has the same effect as national applications filed in the designated countries. An applicant seeking protection may file one application and request protection in as many signatory states as needed.

The Treaty makes it possible to seek patent protection for an invention simultaneously in each of a large number of countries by filing an "international" patent application. Such an application may be filed by anyone who is a national or resident of a Contracting State. It may generally be filed with the national patent office of the Contracting State of which the applicant is a national or resident or, at the applicant's option, with the International Bureau of WIPO in Geneva (direct filing procedure).

The international application is then subjected to what is called an "international search." That search is carried out by one of the major patent offices appointed by the PCT Assembly as an International Searching Authority (ISA). The said search results in an "international search report," that is, a listing of the citations of such published documents that might affect the patentability of the invention claimed in the international application.  At the same time, the ISA prepares a written opinion on patentability.

The international search report and the written opinion are communicated by the ISA to the applicant who may decide to withdraw his application, in particular where the said report or opinion makes the granting of patents unlikely.

If the international application is not withdrawn, it is, together with the international search report, published by the International Bureau.  The written opinion is not published.

The procedure under the PCT has great advantages for the applicant, the patent offices and the general public:

(i) the applicant has up to 18 months more than he has in a procedure outside the PCT to reflect on the desirability of seeking protection in foreign countries, to appoint local patent agents in each foreign country, to prepare the necessary translations and to pay the national fees;

(ii) the search and examination work of patent offices can be considerably reduced or virtually eliminated thanks to the international search report, the written opinion and, where applicable, the international preliminary examination report that accompany the international application;

(iii) since each international application is published together with an international search report, third parties are in a better position to formulate a well-founded opinion about the patentability of the claimed invention.

For a patent application filed under the EURO-PCT route, two phases are identified, the international
phase and the national or regional (European) phase.
During the international phase, a search is carried out, and eighteen months after the priority date (the date of the first application at any patent office), the application is published.
When the international search report is finalised, the applicant has to choose between three alternatives: transferring the application to a national or regional patent office among those designated in the application (in which case it will enter the national or regional phase); electing an international preliminary examination; or withdrawing the application.
If the application  enters the regional or national phase, formal search and substantive examination are undertaken, ending with the application being either granted, refused, or withdrawn by the applicant.

Thanks to Prof. Laurent Manderieux for explaining me some important concepts on this issue.