50 years since Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Diplomatic Conference

On June 19, 2020, the WIPO PCT System marked the 50^th anniversary of the signature of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, which took place at the end of the three-week Diplomatic Conference, held in Washington, D.C., United States of America.

The development of the PCT began in 1966, with the recognition by the Executive Committee of the International (Paris) Union for the Protection of Industrial Property of the need for “more economical, quicker and more effective protection for inventions throughout the world”.

Over the following two years, delegates from governments, intergovernmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations worked together during a number of meetings to deliberate, draft, and redraft a Treaty and associated Regulations, which was then considered at the 1970 Diplomatic Conference, which is summarized in this presentation: