Pre-grant examination

Toshiko Takenaka

Chapter 10 in The Law and Theory of Patents, 2026, pp 187-220 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter analyzes pre‑grant examination as the procedural core of the patent system, shaping innovation incentives, legal certainty, and competitors’ freedom to operate. It reviews how major systems—especially the United States and Europe—structure filing, publication, substantive examination, and appeals within the broader harmonization framework of TRIPS, the Paris Convention, and the Patent Cooperation Treaty. These procedural stages determine patent scope, timing, and enforceability while exposing institutional and doctrinal differences among patent offices.

Keywords: Substantive patent requirements; USPTO and EPO; Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT); 18-month publication and provisional rights; Patent appeals; Duty of candor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035310425
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