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Member States”) on the day the PCT application is filed, except those which the applicant has deliberately excluded or withdrawn.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
3 "Extension" of European Patent possible (BA, ME13).
4 "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).
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.