An “international” or “PCT” patent application covers all countries/regions which are party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) (“PCT Member States”) on the day the PCT application is filed, except those which the applicant has deliberately excluded or withdrawn. At present, the PCT covers most of the major industrial countries of the world, but notably not Taiwan, Pakistan, Argentina, Venezuela and parts of the Arab world. This page provides a current list of the PCT Member States. For more information about PCT applications, and the PCT process, see our page entitled International (PCT) Applications.

PCT Member States (157) – as at 15 December 2022

Albania - AL Germany - DE (EP) Nicaragua - NI
Algeria - DZ
Ghana - GH (AP) Niger - NE (OA)1
Angola - AO
Greece - GR (EP)1 Nigeria - NG
Antigua and Barbuda - AG
Grenada - GD Norway - NO (EP)
Armenia - AM (EA)
Guatemala - GT Oman - OM 
Australia - AU
Guinea - GN (OA)1 Panama - PA
Austria - AT (EP)
Guinea-Bissau - GW (OA)1 Papua New Guinea - PG
Azerbaijan - AZ (EA)
Honduras - HN Peru - PE
Bahrain - BH
Hungary - HU (EP) Philippines - PH
Barbados - BB
Iceland - IS (EP) Poland - PL (EP)
Belarus - BY (EA)
India - IN Portugal - PT (EP)
Belgium - BE (EP)1
Indonesia - ID Qatar - QA
Belize - BZ
Iraq - IQ10 Romania - RO (EP)
Benin - BJ (OA)1 Ireland - IE (EP)1 Russian Federation - RU (EA)
Bosnia & Herzegovina - BA3 Islamic Republic of Iran - IR Rwanda - RW
Botswana - BW (AP)
Israel - IL St Kitts and Nevis - KN
Brazil - BR
Italy - IT (EP)2 St Lucia - LC
Brunei Darussalam - BN  Jamaica - JM8 St Vincent & Grenadines - VC
Bulgaria - BG (EP)
Japan - JP San Marino - SM (EP)1
Burkina Faso - BF (OA)1 Jordan - JO Sao Tome and Principe - ST
Cabo Verde – CV11 Kazakstan - KZ (EA) Saudi Arabia (SA)
Cambodia - KH Kenya - KE (AP) Senegal - SN (OA)1
Cameroon - CM (OA)1 North Korea - KP Serbia - RS7
Canada - CA
South Korea - KR Seychelles - SC (AP)
Central African Rep. - CF (OA)1 Kuwait - KW
Sierra Leone - SL (AP)
Chad - TD (OA)1 Kyrgyzstan - KG (EA)
Singapore - SG
Chile - CL
Lao People's Dem. Rep. - LA Slovakia - SK (EP)
China - CN
Latvia - LV (EP)1
 Slovenia - SI (EP)1
Colombia - CO
Lesotho - LS (AP)
 South Africa - ZA
Comoros - KM (OA)1
Liberia - LR
Spain - ES (EP)
Congo - CG (OA)1 Liechtenstein - LI (EP)
Sri Lanka - LK
Costa Rica - CR
Lithuania - LT (EP)
Sudan - SD (AP)
Côte d’Ivoire - CI (OA)1
Luxembourg - LU (EP)
Sweden - SE (EP)
Croatia - HR (EP)
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya - LY
Switzerland - CH (EP)
Cuba - CU
Macedonia - MK
Syrian Arab Republic - SY
Cyprus - CY (EP)1 Madagascar - MG Tajikistan - TJ (EA)
Czech Republic - CZ (EP)
Malawi - MW (AP) Tanzania - TZ (AP)
Denmark - DK (EP)
Malaysia - MY Thailand - TH
Djibouti Mali - ML (OA)1 Togo -TG (OA)1
Dominica - DM
Malta - MT (EP)1 Trinidad and Tobago - TT
Dominican Republic - DO
Mauritania - MR (OA)1 Tunisia - TN
Ecuador - EC Mauritius – MU14 Turkey - TR (EP)
El Salvador - SV
Mexico - MX Turkmenistan - TM (EA)
Egypt - EG Moldova - MD4,6 Uganda - UG (AP)
Equatorial Guinea - GQ (OA)1 Monaco - MC (EP)1 Ukraine - UA
Estonia - EE (EP)
Mongolia - MN United Arab Emirates - AE
Eswatini - SZ (AP)1 Montenegro - ME3,7,13 (EP)12 United Kingdom - GB (EP)
Finland - FI (EP) Morocco - MA4 United States of America - US
France - FR (EP)1 Mozambique - MZ (AP) Uzbekistan - UZ
Gabon - GA (OA)1
Namibia - NA Vietnam - VN
Gambia - GM (AP) Netherlands - NL (EP)1 Zambia - ZM (AP)
Georgia - GE
New Zealand - NZ Zimbabwe - ZW (AP)

Regional Patents

European Patent (EP)5: AL, AT, BE, BG, CH, CY, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HR, HU, IE, IS, IT, LI, LT, LU, LV, MC, ME12, MK, MT, NL, NO, PO, PT, RO, RS, SE, SI, SK, SM, TR
("Extension" possible for: BA, ME13) ("Validation" possible for: MA, MD, TN, KH)

Eurasian Patent (EA)6: AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, RU, TJ, TM

OAPI (African Intellectual Property Organisation) Patent (OA): BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GQ, GW, KM, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG

ARIPO (African Regional Industrial Property Organisation) Patent (AP): GH, GM, KE, LR, LS, MW, MZ, SC9, SD, SL, ST, SZ, TZ, UG, ZM, ZW

1  May only be designated for a Regional Patent (the "national route" via the PCT has been closed).
2 Italy may be designated for a national patent only in international applications filed on or after 1 July 2020.
3 "Extension" of European Patent possible (BA, ME13).
"Validation" of European Patent possible (MA, MD, TN, KH).
5  EP does not include Andorra.
6  EA no longer includes Moldova (MD) from 26 April 2012.
7  On 3 June 2006, the former state of Serbia & Montenegro (YU) divided into the Republic of Serbia (RS) and the Republic of Montenegro (ME).
8  From 10 February 2022.
9  From 1 January 2022.
10 From 30 April 2022.
11 From 6 July 2022.
12 From 1 October 2022.
13 Montenegro (ME) is available an "Extension" of European Patent for international applications filed before 1 October 2022.
14 From 15 March 2023.
 

Process of a Typical PCT Application

Download flow chart of the procedure - PCT Member States

This information is simplified and must not be taken as a definitive statement of the law or practice.

Topics: Patents - General , Patents - International , IP Protection

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