Patents Outside the United States
For particularly valuable inventions, Duke may file for patent protection in foreign countries.
Decisions on whether to file abroad are made on a case-by-case basis. Obtaining extensive worldwide patent rights is very expensive. Since it is so expensive to obtain comprehensive worldwide patent protection, Duke typically seeks such protection only if a company is paying the cost of those foreign applications.
Most countries (except the U.S.) are signatories to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). You may seek patent protection in PCT countries through the submission of a single patent application.
Within 30 months of the submission of the PCT application, you must decide on the individual countries in which to seek patent protection. At this stage the cost of international patent filings significantly increase since you must file a patent application in each country.
Such patent applications must conform to the rules of that country including translation of the patent application into the native language of the granting country.
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