Information about filing in certain countries Tools to pursue intellectual property protection in other countries Treaties The United States is a party to several international treaties that are designed to help intellectual property (IP) right holders secure protection for their IP not only in their home countries, but in countries throughout the world. These include: The Paris Convention provides for a “right of priority” for patents. After an applicant files a first regular application for an invention in one Contracting State , the applicant may file subsequent applications for the invention in any other Contracting State within 12 months. These subsequent applications will be treated, subject to certain requirements, as if they had been filed on the same day as the first application. The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) provides a unified procedure for filing patent applications in each of its...