IP Intelligence › Myths › You can get a worldwide patent.
Patent myth
“You can get a worldwide patent.”
There is no such thing. Patents are national. A PCT application is a procedure that keeps options open; it is never granted.
The PCT lets you file one international application and postpone the country-by-country decision to around thirty or thirty-one months from priority. That is enormously useful and it is not a patent. Every patent is granted, enforced and revoked country by country, and the claims often end up different in each.
Companies budget for a world patent, then discover the real cost arrives at national phase in several countries at once.
Sources & further reading
Related
PCT
A treaty procedure that lets you file one international application that has the effect of a filing in every contracting state, and then decide later which countries…
National phase
The stage at which a PCT application is taken into an individual country's system. In India the time limit is thirty-one months from the priority date.
The twelve months that decide your international position
Twelve months from your first filing, you must either file in each country you care about, or file a PCT application that preserves the option. There is no third cho…
Not sure whether this applies to your invention?
The honest answer usually needs someone to look at your actual disclosure, your timeline and the prior art. That is a conversation, not an article.
Educational guidance, not legal advice. This material is published by Ragulika IP for general education and information. It is not legal advice, it does not create a professional-client relationship, and it is not a substitute for advice on your own facts. Patentability, infringement, prosecution strategy and every other IP outcome turn on the specific facts and on the law and Patent Office practice as they stand at the time you act. Please take professional advice before making a decision, and read the underlying provision or judgment before relying on any point stated here.
Last reviewed by Ragulika IP on 2026-08-23. Indian patent law and Patent Office practice change; check the position before you rely on it.