PCT: Accession to Belize Brings to 108 the Number of Contracting States of the PCT
Geneva, March 27, 2000
Press Updates UPD/2000/94
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Geneva, announces that Belize deposited its instrument of accession to the PCT on March 17, 2000, and will become bound by the PCT on June 17, 2000. Belize becomes the 108th Contracting State of the PCT.
Consequently, in any international application filed on or after June 17, 2000, Belize (country code: BZ) may be designated and, because it will be bound by Chapter II of the PCT, may also be elected for the purposes of international preliminary examination. Furthermore, nationals and residents of Belize will be entitled from June 17, 2000, to file international applications under the PCT.
The PCT is a system which offers inventors and industry an advantageous route for obtaining patent protection worldwide. The present 108 Contracting States of the PCT are the following:
Albania Algeria Antigua and Barbuda Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize (from Benin Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil Bulgaria Burkina Faso Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad China Congo Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus |
Czech Republic Democratic People's Republic of Korea Denmark Dominica 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 Morocco Mozambique (from May 18, 2000) 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 Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Tajikistan The former Togo Trinidad and Tobago Turkey Turkmenistan Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United Republic of Tanzania United States of America Uzbekistan Viet Nam Yugoslavia Zimbabwe |
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