Global Filing Map

Filing deadlines at a glance

Every jurisdiction Kobe IP files into, with its national phase and Paris Convention deadlines, filing language and European validation requirement.

Jurisdiction	Route	National phase — Chapter I	Chapter II	Paris Convention	Filing language	European validation	Notes
ARIPO	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	English	—	Regional filing for its member states in Africa. ARIPO is the only route for Eswatini, which does not run its own designated office.
Albania	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Albanian	3 months, claims translated
Algeria	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Arabic or French	—
Angola	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Portuguese	—
Antigua and Barbuda	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	English	—
Argentina	Paris Convention only	—	—	12 months	Spanish	—
Armenia	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Armenian	—
Australia	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	English	—
Austria	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	German	3 months, full specification translated
Azerbaijan	PCT national phase	30 months	31 months	12 months	Azerbaijani	—	The Chapter I and Chapter II limits differ here — 30 and 31 months.
Bahrain	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Arabic	—
Belgium	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Dutch, French or German	3 months, no translation required
Belize	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	English	—	The Chapter II limit may be extended on written request by the applicant.
Bolivia	Paris Convention only	—	—	12 months	Spanish	—
Bosnia and Herzegovina	PCT national phase	34 months	34 months	12 months	Bosnian, Croatian or Serbian	—	The longest national phase deadline anywhere on this map — 34 months from priority under both chapters.
Botswana	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	English	—	Also reachable through an ARIPO filing.
Brazil	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Portuguese	—
Bulgaria	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Bulgarian	3 months, full specification translated
Cambodia	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Khmer or English	—
Canada	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	English or French	—	Late entry is possible: reinstatement may be requested for up to 12 months after the 30-month date, on payment of the reinstatement fee and subject to the Canadian Patent Rules.
Chile	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Spanish	—
China	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Chinese	—	Entry up to 32 months is possible on payment of an additional late-entry fee.
Colombia	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Spanish	—
Costa Rica	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Spanish	—
Croatia	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Croatian	3 months, claims translated
Cyprus	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Greek or English	3 months, full specification translated
Czech Republic	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Czech	3 months, full specification translated
Denmark	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Danish or English	3 months, claims translated
Djibouti	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	French or Arabic	—
Dominican Republic	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Spanish	—
Ecuador	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Spanish	—
Egypt	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Arabic	—
Estonia	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Estonian	3 months, full specification translated
Eurasia (EAPO)	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Russian	—	One patent covering the Eurasian member states. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan can be reached this way as an alternative to national filings.
Europe (EPO)	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	English, French or German	—	One application, examined once, covering the 39 EPC states you designate. Grant is not the end of it: a European patent only takes effect in a state once it is validated there, and under Article 65 EPC the period for supplying any required translation ends three months after the mention of grant is published in the European Patent Bulletin. Miss that and the patent can be treated as void from the outset in that state. What each state asks for varies: eight of them (Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Monaco, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, and the United Kingdom) require no translation at all; fourteen more, under the London Agreement, need only the claims in the national language; the remaining seventeen still require a full translation of the specification. Renewal fees then fall due nationally, state by state. Click any European jurisdiction on the map to see which of the three applies. The EPO is also the only route into the national phase for Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, the Netherlands, San Marino and Slovenia. A handful of states outside the EPC can also be reached by extending or validating a European patent under separate agreements — ask us whether your target is one of them.
Finland	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Finnish, Swedish or English	3 months, claims translated
France	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	French	3 months, no translation required
Georgia	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Georgian	—
Germany	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	German	3 months, no translation required
Ghana	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	English	—	Also reachable through an ARIPO filing.
Greece	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Greek	3 months, full specification translated
Hungary	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Hungarian	3 months, claims translated
Iceland	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Icelandic or English	3 months, claims translated
India	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	English or Hindi	—
Indonesia	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Indonesian	—	Extendable on payment of an additional fee for late entry.
Ireland	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	English	3 months, no translation required
Israel	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Hebrew or English	—
Italy	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Italian	3 months, full specification translated
Jamaica	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	English	—
Japan	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Japanese	—
Jordan	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Arabic	—
Kazakhstan	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Kazakh or Russian	—	Also reachable through a Eurasian filing.
Kuwait	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Arabic	—
Laos	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Lao or English	—
Latvia	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Latvian	3 months, claims translated
Lithuania	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Lithuanian	3 months, claims translated
Luxembourg	PCT national phase	20 months	30 months	12 months	French or German	3 months, no translation required	An unusual one: Luxembourg has not adopted the 30-month time limit, so the Chapter I deadline is 20 months from priority. Filing a Chapter II demand before 19 months extends it to 30.
Madagascar	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	French or Malagasy	—
Malaysia	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	English or Malay	—
Malta	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	English	3 months, full specification translated
Mauritius	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	English or French	—
Mexico	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Spanish	—
Moldova	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Romanian	3 months, full specification translated
Monaco	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	French	3 months, no translation required
Mongolia	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Mongolian	—
Montenegro	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Montenegrin	3 months, claims translated
Morocco	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Arabic or French	—
Myanmar	Paris Convention only	—	—	12 months	Burmese or English	—
Namibia	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	English	—	Also reachable through an ARIPO filing.
Netherlands	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Dutch or English	3 months, claims translated
New Zealand	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	English	—
Nigeria	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	English	—
North Macedonia	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Macedonian	3 months, claims translated
Norway	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Norwegian or English	3 months, claims translated
OAPI	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	French or English	—	A single filing covers all 17 member states — there are no national filings within OAPI, and no way to designate only some members.
Oman	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Arabic	—
Pakistan	Paris Convention only	—	—	12 months	English	—
Panama	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Spanish	—
Papua New Guinea	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	English	—
Peru	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Spanish	—
Philippines	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	English	—	Entry up to 31 months is possible on payment of an additional late-entry fee.
Poland	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Polish	3 months, full specification translated
Portugal	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Portuguese	3 months, full specification translated
Qatar	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Arabic	—
Republic of Korea	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Korean	—
Romania	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Romanian	3 months, full specification translated
Russian Federation	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Russian	—
San Marino	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Italian	3 months, full specification translated
Saudi Arabia	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Arabic	—
Serbia	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Serbian	3 months, full specification translated	Extendable by 30 days on payment of an additional fee for late entry.
Singapore	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	English	—	Unusually generous: extendable by up to 18 months on payment of the prescribed fee.
Slovak Republic	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Slovak	3 months, full specification translated
Slovenia	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Slovenian	3 months, claims translated
South Africa	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	English	—
Spain	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Spanish	3 months, full specification translated
Sri Lanka	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Sinhala, Tamil or English	—
Sweden	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Swedish or English	3 months, claims translated
Switzerland & Liechtenstein	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	German, French or Italian	3 months, no translation required	A single filing covers both Switzerland and Liechtenstein — the Swiss office acts for Liechtenstein, which has no office of its own.
Taiwan	Paris Convention only	—	—	12 months	Chinese	—	Taiwan is outside the PCT, so there is no national phase — the Paris Convention route is the only way in, and the 12-month priority deadline is hard.
Thailand	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Thai	—
Trinidad and Tobago	PCT national phase	30 months	31 months	12 months	English	—	The Chapter I and Chapter II limits differ here — 30 and 31 months.
Tunisia	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Arabic or French	—
Turkey	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Turkish	3 months, full specification translated	Entry up to 33 months is possible on payment of an additional late-entry fee.
USA	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	English	—
Uganda	PCT national phase	30 months	31 months	12 months	English	—	Also reachable through ARIPO. The Chapter I and Chapter II limits differ — 30 and 31 months.
Ukraine	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Ukrainian	—
Unitary Patent	Post-grant option	—	—	—	English, French or German	—	Not a filing route of its own. After an EPO grant you may request unitary effect within one month, giving a single patent across the participating EU states instead of separate national validations. Non-participating EPC states are still validated the usual way.
United Arab Emirates	PCT national phase	30 months	30 months	12 months	Arabic	—
United Kingdom	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	English	3 months, no translation required
United Republic of Tanzania	PCT national phase	21 months	31 months	12 months	English	—	Tanzania has not adopted the 30-month time limit, so the Chapter I deadline is 21 months from priority. Filing a Chapter II demand before 19 months extends it to 31. Also reachable through ARIPO.
Uruguay	PCT national phase	30 months	Not available	12 months	Spanish	—	Uruguay has declared that it is not bound by Chapter II of the PCT, so only the Chapter I route is available.
Uzbekistan	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Uzbek or Russian	—
Vietnam	PCT national phase	31 months	31 months	12 months	Vietnamese	—

National and regional phase time limits are taken from the World Intellectual Property Organization's published table of time limits under PCT Chapters I and II. European validation deadlines and translation requirements follow Article 65 EPC and the European Patent Office's published record of accession to the London Agreement. Hollow markers are jurisdictions outside the PCT, where the Paris Convention route is the only way in. Where a calculated deadline falls in a month with fewer days than the priority month, the last day of that month is shown. Marker positions are approximate and adjusted so that neighbouring jurisdictions stay legible. Language and procedural notes are a general guide to help you plan, not formal advice — requirements change, and several depend on the facts of your case. Confirm any date that matters with us before you rely on it.