PCT National Phase Deadlines by Country: 30 or 31 Months

Your PCT application is filed and the international search report is in. It can feel as if the hard part is done. In fact, the decisions that cost the most are still ahead: which countries to enter, what each one needs, and by when.

These months come from WIPO's official table of national phase time limits, which covers every PCT office, and the list of what is due comes from Article 22 of the treaty. Your priority date is the filing date of the earliest application whose priority you claim. If you claim none, it is your international filing date, as the treaty's definitions set out.

Why This Stage Matters

The PCT gave you one application and one search, but no patent. Each national or regional office decides on grant, in what is called the national phase. WIPO's PCT questions page also calls the fees of this stage the most significant costs before grant. They include translations, the offices' own fees, and the fees of patent agents or attorneys before each office.

So two questions sit in front of you. Which offices are worth entering? And what does each one need by its deadline?

Two free WIPO tools make the work easier. The PCT Time Limit Calculator works out your dates from your earliest priority date, though WIPO says its dates are indicative only. The PCT Applicant's Guide has a chapter for each office, with a summary of its fees, the language of the translation, and whether it lets you back in after a missed date.

How Long You Have in Each Country

The treaty sets 30 months and lets each country choose a later date. That is why WIPO's table shows two big groups and a few exceptions.

The counts come from the Chapter I column of WIPO's table. If you asked for international preliminary examination (Chapter II), the same 30 months apply under Article 39, and national law may again set a later date. At 11 offices the Chapter II column differs, so read the column that fits your case.

A regional office has one row in WIPO's table for all its countries. The European Patent Office (EPO) gives 31 months. For 13 countries, among them France, the Netherlands, Ireland and Belgium, it is the only way in for a PCT application. Many other European countries, the United Kingdom among them, keep their own row and also point to the EPO's row.

The months in this timeline come from WIPO's questions page, PCT Rule 42 on the search report, Article 21 on publication, Rule 54bis on the demand for examination, and WIPO's table.

What Each Office Needs by the Deadline

Article 22 names three things: a copy of the international application, a translation where the office needs one, and the national fee. At the United States, Chinese and Canadian offices, the copy is rarely your job. You send it yourself only in special cases, mainly when you enter before WIPO publishes the application.

The months come from WIPO's table. The languages and the ways back come from WIPO's chapter for each office: United States, European Patent Office, China, India, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Australia, United Kingdom, Brazil and Mexico.

Not everything has to be in on the day. Some offices let part of it follow:

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) treats the application as abandoned if the basic national fee and the copy are missing at 30 months. For Brazil, WIPO's chapter words the minimum in two ways, "at least the claims" and "either the claims or the description", so the full translation by 30 months is the safe plan. The other rows come from the same office chapters.

What Entry Costs at the Main Offices

Each office sets its own government fees, in its own currency. These are the main ones in WIPO's guide.

The amounts come from WIPO's chapters for the United States, the European Patent Office, China, India, Japan and Canada. Fees change, and the United States chapter itself points to the USPTO's fee schedule for current amounts.

The extra charges and the lower fees are in the same chapters; WIPO's PCT questions page names translation and representation among the main costs of this stage.

If You Miss the Deadline

At some offices you can still get in, for a fee and within a set window. At others you cannot, so plan for the deadline itself.

PCT Rule 49.6 lets an office reinstate your rights if the delay was unintentional or, at the office's choice, happened in spite of due care. You ask within two months of the cause ending or 12 months after the missed date, whichever comes first, unless the office's law allows a later request. Offices whose law conflicts with the rule could opt out. That is why WIPO's guide answers this office by office.

The United States fees are in the USPTO's fee schedule. What WIPO calls "reinstatement" the EPO calls "re-establishment of rights". Canada's fee is in its Patent Rules, section 154. The other rows come from WIPO's office chapters.

India deserves a closer look. Its Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2024 replaced Rule 138, which now lets the Controller extend a time limit or condone a delay by up to six months, on a request in Form 4. WIPO's chapter for India still describes the older one-month rule, so plan for the 31-month deadline itself.

An office may ask for a declaration or other evidence of the reasons, so keep your docket and payment records. Each way back has its own test, fee and window, and the office decides whether you meet it. Treat it as a repair you hope not to need.

The Dates That Come After Entry

The request for examination and, in Europe, the renewal fees run on their own clocks.

Watch what each clock counts from: China and India count from the priority date, while Japan, South Korea and Canada count from the international filing date. The dates come from the same office chapters.

In Europe the renewal fee for the third year falls due at the end of the month of the second anniversary of the international filing date. If 31 months from priority ends later, the fee falls due then. After grant, every patent needs maintenance fees in each country to stay in force.

Choosing Your Countries

Start from where you sell, make or license. Then check each office's deadline, language and fees.

The European points come from WIPO's table and its chapter for the European Patent Office; the translation points come from the chapters for China, South Korea, Japan and Mexico.

Rank your countries by where you sell, make and license, not by prestige. Each extra office adds a fee, often a translation, and renewal fees for the life of the patent. The months between the search report and the deadline are the time to narrow the list.

What Would Change the Answer

• You asked for international preliminary examination. Read the Chapter II column of WIPO's table. It differs from Chapter I at 11 offices, among them Luxembourg, Tanzania and Uruguay.
• Your priority claim changes. Your dates count from the earliest priority date, so adding or correcting a claim can move all of them. WIPO's calculator also gives the time limit for correcting or adding a priority claim.
• You want to start early. You can always ask for early entry into the national phase. In Japan and South Korea, an early request for examination counts as such a request.
• You qualify for lower fees. Small and micro entities in the United States, small entities in Canada, and natural persons, startups and small entities in India pay less.
• An office did your international search. The USPTO, the EPO and CNIPA lower or waive some entry fees in that case.
• The office's chapter changes. WIPO updates its guide virtually every week, so read the chapter again shortly before you enter.

The early-entry point is on WIPO's PCT questions page and in its chapters for Japan and South Korea; the lower fees are in its chapters for the United States, Canada, India, the European Patent Office and China.

Put the Deadlines to Work

WIPO's calculator gives indicative dates only; the offices' own time limits decide.

Work Out My PCT Dates

About This Guide

General information, not legal advice for a particular matter.