The Patent Law Treaty was adopted in Geneva on 1 June 2000 by the Diplomatic Conference of the World Intellectual Property Organization held from 11 May to 2 June, the English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish texts being equally authentic. Depositary: the Director General of WIPO. It is not the Patent Cooperation Treaty of 1970, which it complements procedurally, and not the TRIPS Agreement. Article 26: it remains open for signature, at the headquarters of the Organization, for one year after its adoption; physical signature began the following day. Article 21: it enters into force three months after ten instruments of ratification or accession by States. It entered into force on 28 April 2005.

Article 2: parties may provide requirements more favorable to applicants than the Treaty and the Regulations, other than Article 5; nothing in the Treaty limits the freedom to prescribe substantive patent law. Article 3: it applies to national and regional applications for patents for invention and patents of addition and, within PCT limits, to national-phase procedures. Article 4: essential-security exception. Article 15: it applies together with the Paris Convention.

Article 5, at framework level: the filing date is the date on which the Office has received a maximum set of formal elements — an indication that a patent is sought, indications allowing the applicant to be identified or contacted, and a part which on its face appears to be a description — with notification and an opportunity to complete. A filing guide is not set out here. Article 6: form and content of the application, representation and fees, still at framework level. Articles 11–13: relief in respect of time limits, reinstatement of rights after a finding of due care or unintentionality, and correction of priority, without a deadline calculator.

Article 20: States party to Paris or members of WIPO, plus competent intergovernmental organizations, including the EPO, the EAPO and ARIPO on the basis of declarations made at the Conference. Article 23: only one reservation is permitted, concerning unity of invention in a PCT international application. Article 24: denunciation effective after one year. Article 27: registration with the United Nations Secretariat.

Cover: WIPO headquarters in Geneva, place of the conference; we do not claim the hall. Wikimedia Commons, free licence.

Sources consulted: Patent Law Treaty; Patent Law Treaty (WIPO authentic text).