I am often asked the question “Will my U.S. patent application protect my invention throughout the world?” The answer is No. U.S. patents are only valid in the United States.
However, if you are granted a U.S. patent for your invention, that U.S. patent can be used to stop others from making, using, or selling an infringing product in the U.S. and from importing an infringing product into the U.S.
A U.S. patent will not, however, offer any protection of your invention entirely outside of the U.S. For example, a U.S. patent will not prevent others from making, using, and selling your invention in Europe, China, Japan, and so on. For that, you will need a patent issued by the foreign country’s patent office (e.g., the European Patent Office for members of the EU).
This question is usually followed by “Should I file patent applications outside of the United States?”
I never answer that you shouldn’t file a foreign patent application. But consider this:
1. What is the market for your invention? The U.S. market is one of the largest markets, if not THE LARGEST MARKET, in the world for most inventions. If you can corner the U.S. market, you’re likely going to do very well.
2. Foreign patent applications are expensive. If that’s not enough for you, then you will need to file in one or more countries outside of the U.S. These filings can be expensive – just to file a patent application in another country can cost thousands of dollars in foreign attorney fees, foreign government fees, and translation costs. Not to mention having to argue your case in a foreign patent office, and then pay issue fees to the foreign patent office.
3. Are you willing to enforce your patent outside of the United States? Foreign patents are hard for individuals and small businesses to enforce. Even if you have an issued patent in another country, you’ll have to police it. That is, you’ll have to find infringers in that other country. Then you’ll have to hire a foreign attorney to go after the infringer. Even if you win your case, you’ll have to collect your judgment, which likely means hiring a foreign collection agency.
If you’re considering filing foreign patent applications, keep in mind that most foreign patent offices have an absolute novelty requirement. That is, you cannot publicly disclose your invention at all prior to filing a foreign patent application. Contact a patent attorney right away for more information about foreign filing.
