Law - U.S. National Stage Filing Deadline Through PCT

National and regional patent application filings are required to obtain enforceable patents in those jurisdictions that have been designated in the PCT Request. If a Demand for international preliminary application is not filed, then the U.S. national stage must be entered with the International Bureau or the Receiving Office before the expiration of 20 months from the priority date or 20 months from the PCT filing date, whichever is earlier. If a Demand for international preliminary examination has been timely filed, the national stage must be entered before the expiration of 30 months from the priority date or 30 months from the PCT filing date, whichever is earlier.

The position of the USPTO on this issue is described in the following section(s) of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP):

MPEP 1801 - Basic Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Principles
MPEP 1893.01(a)(1) - Submissions Required by 20 Months From the Priority Date
MPEP 1893.01(a)(2) - Article 19 Amendment (Filed with the International Bureau)
MPEP 1893.01(b)(1) - Submissions Required by 30 Months From the Priority Date
MPEP 1893.01(b)(2) - Article 19 and Article 34 Amendments (Filed with the International Preliminary Examining Authority)

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