Message to the Senate Transmitting the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

To the Senate of the United States:

With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith a copy of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, signed at Washington on June 19, 1970, together with the Regulations under the Patent Cooperation Treaty annexed thereto. I transmit also, for the information of the Senate, the report from the Department of State with respect to the Treaty.

The Patent Cooperation Treaty offers several major advantages. One is to simplify the filing of patent applications on the same invention in different countries by providing, among other things, centralized filing procedures and a standardized application format.

Another advantage offered by the Treaty is the longer period of time available to an applicant before he must commit himself by undertaking the expenses of translation, national filing fees and prosecution in each country. Today, a twelve month priority period is provided by the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, while under the Patent Cooperation Treaty an applicant will have generally twenty months or more. This advantage should permit the applicant to be more selective of the countries in which he ultimately decides to file, by giving him more time and information to evaluate the strength of his potential patent and to determine his marketing plans. Thus, this Treaty would serve to expand established programs of industry to file foreign patent applications as well as to encourage smaller businesses and individual inventors to become more actively engaged in seeking patent protection abroad.

A third advantage is to facilitate the examining process in those member countries which examine applications for patents.

In order to carry out the provisions of the Treaty, proposed implementing legislation will be forwarded to the Congress in the near future.

I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to the Treaty submitted herewith and give its advice and consent to ratification subject to three of the declarations for which provision is made in the Convention under Article 64, paragraphs (1) (a), (3)(a), and (4) (a), respectively, as explained in the report from the Department of State.

RICHARD NIXON

THE WHITE HOUSE,

September 12, 1972.