Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) - Accessionby South Africa Brings to 100 the Number of Contracting States of thePCT
Geneva, December 22, 1998
Press Updates UPD/1998/46
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Geneva, announces that South Africa deposited its instrument of accession to the PCT on December 16, 1998. South Africa will become the 100th Contracting State of the PCT on March 16, 1999.
Consequently, in any international application filed on or after March 16, 1999, South Africa (country code: ZA) may be designated and, because it is bound by Chapter II of the PCT, may also be elected for the purposes of international preliminary examination. Furthermore, nationals and residents of South Africa will be entitled from March 16, 1999, to file international applications under the PCT.
Detailed information on the advantages of the PCT for inventors and industry can be obtained from WIPO, in Geneva.
The PCT is a system which offers inventors and industry an advantageous route for obtaining patent protection worldwide. The present 100 Contracting States of the PCT are the following:
Albania Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Barbados Belarus Belgium Benin Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil Bulgaria Burkina Faso Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad China Congo Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Democratic People's Republic of Korea |
Denmark Estonia Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guinea Guinea-Bissau Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Japan Kazakhstan Kenya Kyrgyzstan Latvia Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein |
Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mexico Monaco Mongolia Netherlands New Zealand Niger Norway Poland Portugal Republic of Korea Republic of Moldova Romania Russian Federation Saint Lucia Senegal Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia South Africa (from March 16, 1999) Spain |
Sri Lanka Sudan Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Tajikistan The former Togo Trinidad and Tobago Turkey Turkmenistan Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates (from March 10, 1999) United Kingdom United States of America Uzbekistan Viet Nam Yugoslavia Zimbabwe |
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