If you want to market your idea outside of Sweden, you should probably apply for protection in other countries too.
In which countries you should protect your invention depends, among other things, on which markets you will be operating in and what you want to protect. There are several routes for applying for protection in other countries. If you have filed a national application, you will have one year to benefit from the priority it provides, regardless of which way forward you choose.
It is usually wise to embark on the path towards patent protection abroad by means of a Swedish patent application. PRV’s assessment of your application will form a good basis for deciding whether and how you should proceed. The cost is low, and you will also secure your crucial priority date.
The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international agreement that allows you to obtain, with a single application, in one language, a novelty search and preliminary patentability assessment carried out by one public authority for approximately 150 countries.
With a European patent application, you can apply for patents in around 40 European countries. If your application is granted, you can choose to validate your patent in different countries or to request unitary protection. The unitary patent will eventually cover most countries in the EU.
If you want patent protection in a particular country, you can apply directly to that country's patent office.
