As of 1 January 2012, PCT Applicants interested in licensing their invention can request the International Bureau (IB) to make this information publicly available on PATENTSCOPE website (http://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/search.jsf).

This may be done by submitting a request Form PCT/IB/382 or by sending a request letter, signed by the applicant, agent, or common representative, indicating that the claimed invention is available for licensing. In their request, Applicants are required to provide a licensing contact person. Applicants may indicate which countries are available for licensing, whether an exclusive or non-exclusive license is available, and any other license term.

This new feature is available for any international application of which the period of 30 months from the priority date has not expired. For international applications which have not yet been filed, applicants will be able to submit their licensing availability request at the time of filing. For international applications which have already been filed, applicants will have to wait until the IB has issued a “Notification of the international application number and of the international filing date” or until a “Notification of receipt of record copy” has been received from a different Receiving Office.

The licensing indications will be reflected in the bibliographic data relating to the particular application (under the “Bibliographic data” tab on PATENTSCOPE) but will not be part of the published international application itself. A link will be created between the licensing statement on the bibliographic data page and the content of Form PCT/IB/382 or the request letter, allowing third parties to directly access its content. In addition, the licensing availability request will also be available under the “Documents” tab on PATENTSCOPE as a separate document. Furthermore, the existence of licensing indications will be added to the list of search criteria within the PATENTSCOPE website.