The patent - a territorial right...

The patent is characterized among other things in that it is a so-called territorial right, therefore only applies in each case for one country or territory. A patent valid in the USA for example does not have any effect in Europe and conversely.

The applicant who would therefore also like to protect his invention in the USA, Japan, China, India or another country in addition to Europe for example, must file national patent applications for this in each case in one or more of his desired countries and conduct the prescribed examination process and grant process and specifically according to the nationally valid regulations applicable in each case.

...or the central application process

In addition to carrying out a number of individual national patent applications it is however also possible to make a central application process with ONE patent application which is valid like a national application in the countries desired by the applicant. This is a so-called international patent application or a PCT application for short.