Executive Summary: A U.S. national-stage application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 may qualify for accelerated examination through the Patent Prosecution Highway, but an international search report citing only “A” references does not itself establish eligibility. The applicant must review the latest relevant PCT written opinion or international preliminary report and confirm that at least one claim received affirmative findings for novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicabilit

Executive Summary: This article compares how the USPTO and EPO treat “secret prior art”—earlier-filed patent applications that were not public when a later application was filed but later acquire prior-art effect after publication. In the United States, AIA § 102(a)(2) treats qualifying U.S. patent documents, including certain PCT publications designating the United States, as prior art as of their effective filing dates if they name another inventor; such references may be u

Executive Summary: For inventions developed in or across the United States and China, the first patent filing decision should begin with a territorial invention-location analysis, not with inventor nationality, corporate headquarters, or preferred filing venue. The United States generally requires a foreign filing license before filing abroad for an invention made in the United States, unless a U.S. filing has been pending for at least six months without a secrecy order or an

I. Introduction A PCT application designating the United States gives applicants a choice that does not exist in the same way in many other jurisdictions: enter the U.S. national stage under 35 U.S.C. § 371, or file a domestic U.S. application under 35 U.S.C. § 111(a) claiming benefit of the PCT application. Practitioners usually call the second route a bypass continuation. That choice is a U.S.-specific product of continuation practice. Other major offices may pr