7. Our advice

7.1 Use PCT filing to reserve rights while the invention matures commercially

Patent filings generate costs even before the product concerned produces results. As the foreign filing period cannot exceed 12 months after the first French filing, the PCT procedure allows you to buy time in order to defer the moment when the choice of countries has to be made. What's more, it also allows you to defer the protection costs to be incurred in each desired country. In this way, the commercial potential of the invention and its potential markets can be more accurately assessed in the time saved by filing a PCT application. For a total cost of around €10,000 (excluding VAT), it is possible to reserve patent rights worldwide for around two and a half years.