Representing territorial rights, an invention is protected only within the country
in which it was obtained, it may be manufactured, used, or sold to third parties from
other countries without the owner’s consent. That is why protection is sometimes necessary in other countries as well.
The date of the first application for an invention is called the priority date, and whatever subsequent application submitted within 12 months, i.e. within the priority period, will benefit from date of filing of the first application and shall have priority over other applications filed by third parties for the same invention.
When choosing the countries where the invention will be patented, they will have to be taken into account consider aspects related to where the product will be sold, which are the markets principal for similar products, which are the patent costs in each market
of interest, in which of the countries the competition is located, where the product will be manufactured, etc.
The next stage is choosing the way to protect the invention in the chosen countries, and
certain:
a) the national route, i.e. registration in each of the countries of interest
b) the regional way, i.e. the regional registration in one of the regional offices of
patents:
African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI)
African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO)
Eurasian Patent Organization (EAPO)
European Patent Office (EPO)
Patent Office of the Gulf Cooperation Council
c) the international way, i.e. protection in a number of member countries of the Treaty of
Patent Cooperation (PCT); International Cooperation Treaty in The Patent Domain confers at least 18 months more compared to the term of 12-month priority, in which applicants can capitalize on the commercial potential of their product in different countries.
