It is interesting to note that WIPO has set up a scale of fee reductions
that relate to the extent to which the filer has saved work for the Receiving
Office.
Pure paper filing. With the changes described here, a filer can still
file a pure paper PCT patent application. Such a filing is, of course, quite
easy to do just as one has filed PCT applications for many years. One drawback
is that such a filing does not qualify for any fee reductions.
Paper filing with diskette (former PCT-Easy practice). Many filers
have been using PCT-Easy for many years. From the point of view of the
Receiving Office, the diskette provided by the filer makes it easy to create
the "front page" of the PCT publication. The diskette provides the
bibliographic information needed to populate many of the forms and databases
used by the RO and the ISA and the IPEA. The fee reduction compared with a pure
paper filing is now 100 Swiss Francs.
E-filing in PDF format. A few Receiving Offices, soon to include
RO/IB, are willing to receive e-filed PCT applications in which the patent
specification and drawings are provided as PDF files. With this type of
e-filing, a chief advantage for the Receiving Office is that the filer is
providing most of the bibliographic information in computer-readable form, just
as in a "diskette" filing as mentioned above. In addition the Receiving Office
is saved from having to do an optical scan of the specification and drawings.
The fee reduction as compared with a pure paper filing is now 200 Swiss Francs.
E-filing in XML format. A few Receiving Offices, soon to include
RO/IB, are willing to receive e-filed PCT applications in which the patent
specification and drawings are provided as XML files. With this type of
e-filing, one advantage for the Receiving Office is that the filer is providing
most of the bibliographic information in computer-readable form, just as in a
"diskette" filing as mentioned above. In addition the Receiving Office is saved
from having to do an optical scan of the specification and drawings.
Importantly, the actual text of the patent application is in computer-readable
characters and thus is easy to load into the WIPO full-text database. Such text
would also be available to ISAs and IPEAs and might help them do their work.
Entry into the national stage (EO/DO practice) would also be enhanced as the
text would also be made available to the national-stage patent offices. The fee
reduction as compared with a pure paper filing is now 300 Swiss Francs.