PCT Yearly Review - WIPO

Section b
performance of the pct system
Figure B.2.4: Timeliness in transmitting PCT applications to the IB by time category and
receiving office, 2012
Within 4 weeks Between 5 - 8 weeks More than 8 weeks
Distribution by time category (%)
100
75
50
25
0
99.7 99.3 98.0 97.7 97.5 96.9 94.7 93.8 92.4 90.7 85.8 82.9 82.9 71.1 65.3 36.7 29.0 26.0 16.8 0.3
Share of PCT applications transmitted within 4 weeks (%)
Denmark
Israel
Austria
Japan
United Kingdom
Republic of Korea
Sweden
China
European Patent Office
Australia
United States of America
Receiving office
Finland
Netherlands
International Bureau
Canada
Germany
France
Spain
India
Russian Federation
Note: Timeliness is calculated as the time elapsed between the international filing date and the date on which the IB received the PCT application from the
receiving office. Applications transmitted under PCT article 19.4 are excluded.
Source: WIPO Statistics Database, March 2013
B.3
International
Searching Authorities
Each PCT application must undergo an international
search carried out by an ISA. ROs have agreements
with at least one but sometimes several ISAs that carry
out international searches. Where an RO has an agreement
with multiple ISAs, the PCT applicant must select
one of them.
B.3.1 International Search Reports by ISA and
country of origin
Table B.3.1 shows the distribution of ISRs by ISA from
2008 to 2012. It also provides data, for each ISA, on the
number of ISRs established for the three main origins
that selected them.
In 2012, the EPO remained the most selected ISA, with
38.5% of all ISRs issued, followed by the JPO (21.5%)
and KIPO (14.1%).
Once the ISA has performed the search, the applicant
receives an ISR containing a list of documents relevant for
assessing the patentability of the invention. The ISA also
establishes a written opinion giving a detailed analysis of
the potential patentability of the invention in light of the
documents found in the search.
In 2012, 15 national patent offices or regional organizations
were acting as ISAs with the Israel Patent Office
beginning to operate as an ISA on June 1, 2012. 28
The office of the Russian Federation doubled (+105.5%)
the volume of ISRs it issued in 2012, mainly because of
the number of US applications received, which was 61
times higher in 2012 (1,355 ISRs issued) than in the previous
year (22 ISRs issued), representing 56% of the ISRs
issued by this ISA. With respective increases of 15.2%
and 12.8% on 2011, SIPO and JPO also experienced
substantial growth in ISRs issued.
28 The national patent offices of Chile, Egypt and
India have been appointed as ISAs (bringing to 18
the total number of ISAs); however, these offices
had not commenced operations in 2012 (the office
of Egypt will began operating on April 1, 2013).
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