Three new countries have joined the PCT: Armenia, Estonia and Liberia. This brings the count to 72 member countries (listed below). Here are the announcements for Estonia and Liberia. ESTONIA The United States Patent and Trademark Office received notification from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) that Estonia deposited its instrument of accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) on May 24, 1994. Estonia will become the 71st Contracting State of the PCT on August 24, 1994. Consequently, nationals and residents of Estonia are entitled to file international applications on and after August 24, 1994, and from the same date it is possible to file international applications designating and electing Estonia (country code: EE). LIBERIA The United States Patent and Trademark Office received notification from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) that Liberia deposited its instrument of accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) on May 27, 1994. Liberia will become the 72nd Contracting State of the PCT on August 27, 1994. Consequently, nationals and residents of Liberia are entitled to file international applications on and after August 27, 1994, and from the same date it is possible to file international applications designating and electing Liberia (country code: LR). ==================== PCT CONTRACTING STATES EUROPE EPO Non-EPO ASIA & PACIFIC AFRICA Austria Belarus Armenia OAPI Belgium Bulgaria Australia Benin Denmark Czech Republic China Burkina Faso France Estonia North Korea Cameroon Germany Finland (EPO '95) Georgia Central African Greece Hungary Japan Republic Ireland Latvia Kazakhstan Chad Italy Lithuania Kyrgyzstan Congo Liechtenstein Norway Mongolia Cote d'Ivoire Luxembourg Poland New Zealand Gabon Monaco Moldova South Korea Guinea Netherlands Romania Sri Lanka Mali Portugal Russia Tajikistan Mauritania Spain Slovakia Uzbekistan Niger Sweden Slovenia Viet Nam Senegal Switzerland Ukraine Togo United Kingdom AMERICAS Barbados Non-OAPI Brazil Kenya Canada Madagascar United States Malawi Trinidad/Tobago Sudan Liberia Non-PCT Countries Swaziland will be joining in September 1994 as a non-OAPI member. Iceland is thinking of joining the PCT sometime in 1995. How about Taiwan, South Africa, India and Mexico, the four largest non-PCT countries? As PCT is part of WIPO, it is a UN organization, and is guided by UN doctines. Thus as long as Taiwan is not allowed to be a member of the UN, it won't be able to join the PCT. On the other hand, as South Africa discards apartheid, the UN will allow South Africa back into the UN, at which point it will be eligible for PCT membership if it chooses. India is not a member of the Paris Convention which governs basic international patent activities, and has not given any clear signal whether it wants to become more fully associated with the WIPO and PCT (despite India's signing of the GATT treaty). While Spain is a member of the PCT, it does not subscribe to the Chapter II provisions which provide for international preliminary examination. This is because the PCT does not have Spanish-speaking examiners. For the same reason, Mexico has not joined the PCT, though as the PCT becomes more Spanish proficient, and because of NAFTA, Mexico eventually is expected to join. Other countries thinking of joining the PCT include Argentina, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore. ========== Greg Aharonian Internet Patent News Service (for subscription info, send 'help' to patents@world.std.com) (for prior art search services info, send 'prior' to patents@world.std.com)