January 28, 2022
We were developing Axon®, a new type of smart, portable, and programmable exercise equipment and wanted to protect our inventions while we were implementing the product.
We filed a provisional application in the U.S. and then filed a PCT application claiming priority from the provisional application. Eventually we filed national-phase applications in Australia, Canada, China, and Europe, and we filed a bypass continuation application from the PCT in the U.S. We now have patents in Australia, China, and the U.S., and we are in prosecution in Europe. We just filed a request for examination in Canada with a PPH request and the claims from our issued U.S. application.
We very much appreciated getting an early view of the prior art, and we were able to make claim amendments in the national applications. We also very much appreciated not having to spend money on national applications before learning more about the prior art! By the time our 30-month deadline arrived, we were far enough along with the implementation that we could choose the jurisdictions that made sense.