Paris route: Applications for patent protection filed directly with the national/regional office of, or acting for, the relevant state or jurisdiction (as opposed to the “national phase under the PCT”). The Paris route is also called the “direct route” or “national route”.

PCT System: The PCT, an international treaty administered by WIPO, facilitates the acquisition of patent rights in a large number of jurisdictions. The PCT System simplifies the process of multiple national patent filings by reducing the requirement to file a separate application in each jurisdiction. However, the decision on whether to grant patent rights remains in the hands of national and regional patent offices, and patent rights remain limited to the jurisdiction of the patent-granting authority. The PCT application process starts with the international phase, during which an international search and, possibly, a preliminary examination are performed, and concludes with the national phase, during which a national or regional patent office decides on the patentability of an invention according to national law.

A patent family is a set of interrelated patent applications filed in one or more offices to protect the same invention. The patent applications in a family are interlinked by one or more of the following: priority claim, PCT national phase entry, continuation, continuation-in-part, internal priority, and addition or division. Foreign-oriented patent families have at least one filing at an office other than the applicant’s home office. More information on this can be found here.