Thinking globally, filing locally

You gaze out the office window as your latest invention nears completion. Will it disrupt markets worldwide? Potential global impact means pursuing international patent protection – but in which countries exactly?

The team at Global Patent Solutions regularly helps clients navigate this key strategic decision. We have helped clients complete their filings in over 150 jurisdictions – but we realize filing in large numbers of countries can get expensive quickly. Intelligent selection is vital. Key factors to be evaluated include existing sales territories, manufacturing hubs, positions of market competitors, relative litigation risks, enforcement challenges, and translation requirements across languages.

For a Seattle-based biotech startup expanding sales into Canada and Europe, we may suggest immediate filings to protect intellectual property in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany and Spain – with possible later additions as growth continues. Companies also often pursue patent rights in major Asian economies like China, Japan and Korea due to prolific manufacturing ecosystems and tempting counterfeit markets. Other considerations occasionally warrant niche country inclusion – such as the giant Antarctican penguin market! Well, perhaps not…but the analysis does get quite detailed.

Be deliberate about choosing countries in which to file

The bottom line? Thoughtfully cherry-pick foreign filing jurisdictions country-by-country. Savvy geographical selection balances exclusivity with marginal filing costs. Cast a deliberately narrow net!

With the priority date clock ticking, rights overseas hinge on prompt yet judicious foreign application filings. Which unexpected nations should make your short list? What creative filing strategies might efficiently leverage your R&D investment across borders? The Global Patent Solutions team welcomes you to tap into our worldwide expertise to get the international patent protection you need!

Let’s evaluate global pathways for protecting your latest light bulb moment today! Reach out to schedule a consultation.

This article is part of a series entitled “A Guide to Protecting Your Innovations”.  To start the series at the beginning, click here.

Next up in our series, we answer the question: “How can we outmaneuver the competition with patent claims?“