International applications and national security considerations

Some PCT Contracting States have national legislation which restricts the filing of international applications with other Offices for reasons of national security where:

applications are filed by nationals of the relevant State;
applications are filed by residents of the relevant State; and/or
the invention was made in the relevant State.

In most cases, you are considered to have permission to file with another Office if either you have filed an application for the same invention at the relevant national Office a certain amount of time previously (which varies from Office to Office) and have not received a security notice stating that you should not file elsewhere, or if you have explicitly requested and been granted permission.

For your international application, this means that if you need, but do not yet have the necessary permission:

you should file directly with your national Office, and
you should not use ePCT to prepare your international application, since the draft details are held on servers operated by the International Bureau, rather than your computer or the servers of the relevant national Office.

Known filing restrictions

The International Bureau is aware of filing restrictions for reasons of national security in the following PCT Contracting States (further details, where available, appear in Annex B of the PCT Applicant’s Guide).

State		Restrictions	Legislation and notes
AM	Armenia	Inventions made in the country	Law on Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs, Article 77
AZ	Azerbaijan	Applications containing State secrets	Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Patents, Article 25
BE	Belgium	Applications by nationals or by natural or legal persons having a residence or principal place of business in Belgium	Applies to applications which may be of interest for national defense or security
BG	Bulgaria	Applications by residents	Applies to applications which have been classified by the defense authorities of Bulgaria as being of a confidential nature.
BY	Belarus	Applications by natural or legal persons having a residence or principal place of business in Belarus	Law on Patents for Inventions, Utility Models and Industrial Designs, Art. 32
CN	China	Inventions made in the country	Patent Law of the People's Republic of China, Articles 4 and 19, Implementing Regulations of the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China, Rules 8 and 9
DE	Germany	Applications containing State secrets	Patent Law, Section 52 and Law on International Patent Treaties, Art. III Sec. 2
DK	Denmark	Applications by residents	International applications for inventions that relate to war material or processes for the manufacture of war material and are owned by a person or enterprise residing in Denmark, or by a Danish institution, must be filed through the Danish Patent and Trademark Office and may only be granted patent protection, as “secret patents”, with authorization from the (Danish) Minister of Defence, in accordance with sections 2 and 2a of the Consolidate Secret Patents Act and section 70 of the (Danish) Patents Act.
ES	Spain	Inventions made in the country Applications by residents	Unless priority of an earlier application filed at the SPTO is claimed. Law No. 24/2015 of July 24, 2015, on Patents, Art. 163
FI	Finland	Applications by residents	Act on Inventions of Importance to the Defence of the Country (551/1967), Section 2
FR	France	Applications by natural or legal persons having a residence or principal place of business in France	Unless priority of an earlier application filed at the INPI is claimed. Intellectual Property Code, Article L 614-18.
GB	United Kingdom	Applications by residents	Applies to applications relating to military technology or whose publication might prejudice national security or safety of the public. For more details about applications relating to military technology or whose publication might prejudice national security. Patents Act 1977, Section 23
GR	Greece	Applications by nationals	Unless priority of an earlier application filed at the OBI is claimed. Presidential Decree No. 16/1991 Implementing Regulations of the Patent Cooperation Treaty as ratified by Law No. 1883/1990, Article 3, par. 2 and Law No. 4325/1963 on the Inventions Concerning the National Defence, Art. 1 and 2.
HU	Hungary	Applications by natural or legal persons having a residence or principal place of business in Hungary	Act XXXIII of 1995 on the Protection of Inventions by Patents, Art. 53(5), Government Decree 142/1996 (IX.2.) and Act LXV of 1995 Applies to applications which may be of interest for national defense or security, unless priority of an earlier application filed at the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (HIPO) is claimed.
IL	Israel	Applications by nationals and residents	Applies to applications the subject of which is weaponry or ammunition, or which is otherwise of military value. Patents Law, 5727-1967, Article 98
IN	India	Applications by residents	Unless a written permit has been granted following a request on Form 25 and payment of INR 4,000 (INR 1,000 for individuals) or unless an application for a patent for the same invention has been made in India and at least 6 weeks have elapsed without a notice from Controller prohibiting publication or communication of the application. Patents Act, Section 39.
IT	Italy	Applications by residents	Unless the international application claims the priority of a national application filed in Italy more than 60 days previously and such application has not been made subject of the official secrets regulation. Legislative Decree No. 30 of 10 February 2005, Article 198(1) as modified following Law No. 102 of 24 July 2023, Article 8, which entered into force on 23 August 2023.
JP	Japan	Inventions made in the country	Applies to applications for inventions belonging to a field of technology specified by Cabinet Order according to the International Patent Classification, etc., that could, if made public, undermine the security of the nation and its citizens through external actions. Act on the Promotion of Ensuring National Security through Integrated Implementation of Economic Measures, Article 78
KR	Republic of Korea	Applications by residents	Applies to applications which may be of interest for national defense. Patent Act, Art. 41
LU	Luxembourg		Only applies to applications which may be of interest for national defense.
ME	Montenegro	Applications by nationals and residents	Any international application where the applicant has Montenegrin nationality or has his/her residence or its seat in Montenegro, and which concerns an invention of significance for the defence and security of Montenegro, will be subject to compulsory filing with the Ministry of Defence, and shall thus not be filed with the European Patent Office (EPO) nor the International Bureau. Law on Patents, Articles 124-125.
MY	Malaysia	Applications by residents	Patents Act 1983 (Act 291), Section 23A
NO	Norway	Inventions made in the country Applications by residents Inventions owned by residents	Applies to applications relating to military technology or whose publication might prejudice national security Patents Act, Section 71 Act on Inventions of Importance to the Defence of the Realm
PL	Poland	Applications by nationals and residents	Industrial Property Law, Article 40.
PT	Portugal	Applications by residents	Industrial Property Code, Article 92
RO	Romania	Inventions made in the country	A national or resident of Romania must file an international application concerning a subject matter of significance for national security directly with the State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (Romania). Regulations on the Implementation of the Patent Law No. 64/1991 (approved by Government Decision No. 547/2008 of 21 May 2008) , Art. 4(3) and 7
RU	Russian Federation	Inventions made in the country	Civil Code of the Russian Federation, Article 1395
SE	Sweden	Inventions made in the country Applications by residents Inventions owned by Swedish companies	Applies to applications concerning defense inventions. The Defense Inventions Act, Section 4
SG	Singapore	Applications by residents	Patents Act, Section 34
TR	Türkiye	Applications by residents	Applies to applications concerning a subject of significance for national security. Law No. 6769 of 10 January 2017 on Industrial Property, Art. 124(9)
UG	Uganda	Persons resident in Uganda are required to seek written authorization to file outside Uganda if such filing is less than six weeks from the filing of a national application. Additionally, an application that has been deemed to contain information prejudicial to security of Uganda or safety of the public may not be filed as an international patent application.	Industrial Property Act, 2014, Sections 14 and 15
US	United States of America	Inventions made in the country	Title 35, United States Code, Patents, Sections 181 and 184-188. See also 37 CFR 5.11-5.20. For more details about applications for foreign filing licenses. For using ePCT-Filing to prepare a request form package for upload to the USPTO electronic filing system (Patent Center), see the article in the PCT Newsletter, October 2020 (No. 10/2020).
VN	Viet Nam	Applications by residents	Unless written authorization from the National Office of Industrial Property (Viet Nam) has been obtained or unless an application for a patent for the same invention has been filed at that Office.