Spreading Innovation: Milestone of 5 Million PCT Applications Reached

By utilising the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), applicants can streamline the process of securing patent protection in over 150 countries by filing a single international application in one language and currency. This approach offers substantial savings in time and costs while promoting the global dissemination of innovation for the collective benefit of humanity.

 

Since its inception in 1978, the PCT has reached a milestone with the publication of its 5 millionth application. This landmark filing, submitted by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., features an invention titled “Image Processing Device and Image Processing Method,” which enhances photographic stabilization to produce clearer mobile phone images.

 

“In nearly five decades of operations, WIPO’s PCT has helped spread across borders the great inventions of our times: from bluetooth to robots to the underlying architecture of the internet and mobile phones as well as CRISPR, life-saving vaccines and today’s electric vehicles,” said WIPO Director General Daren Tang.