It can be confusing trying to determine which countries are PCT contracting states, which aren’t, and which are considered other regional offices. Below are a couple of tables to help:
PCT Contracting States
AE United Arab Emirates | IN India | NZ New Zealand |
AG Antigua and Barbuda | JP Japan | OM Oman |
*AL Albania | KM Union of the Comoros | PA Panama |
AO Angola | KN Saint Kitts and Nevis | PE Peru |
AU Australia | KP Democratic People’s republic of Korea | PG Papua New Guinea |
*BA Bosnia and Herzegovina | KR Republic of Korea | PH Philippines |
BB Barbados | LA Lao People’s Democratic Republic | QA Qatar |
BH Bahrain | LC Saint Lucia | RS Serbia |
BN Brunei Darussalam | LK Sri Lanka | SC Seychelles |
BR Brazil | LR Liberia | SG Singapore |
BZ Belize | LY Libyan Arab Jamahiriya | ST Sao Tome & Principe |
CA Canada | MA Morocco | SV El Salvador |
CL Chile | MD Republic of Moldova | SY Syrian Arab Republic |
CN China | *ME Montenegro | TH Thailand |
CO Colombia | MG Madagascar | TN Tunisia |
CR Costa Rica | MN Mongolia | TT Trinidad and Tobago |
CU Cuba | MX Mexico | UA Ukraine |
DM Dominica | MY Malaysia | US United States of America |
DO Dominican Republic | NG Nigeria | UZ Uzbekistan |
DZ Algeria | NI Nicaragua | VC Saint Vincent and Grenadines |
EC Ecuador | VN Viet Nam | |
EG Egypt | ZA South Africa | |
GD Grenada | * Extension of European patent possible | |
GE Georgia | ||
GT Guatemala | ||
HN Honduras | ||
ID Indonesia | ||
IL Israel |
Other Regional Patent Offices
AP ARIPO Patent |
EA Eurasian Patent |
OA OAPI Patent (regional patent only) |
BW Botswana | AM Armenia | BF Burkina Fasco |
GH Ghana | AZ Azerbaijan | BJ Benin |
GM Gambia | BY Belarus | CF Central African Republic |
KE Kenya | KG Kyrgyzstan | CG Congo |
LR Liberia | KZ Kazakhstan | CI Cote d’lvoire |
LS Lesotho | RU Russian Federation | CM Cameroon |
MW Malawi | TJ Tajikistan | GA Gabon |
MZ Mozambique | TM Turkmenistan | GN Guinea |
NA Namibia | GQ Equatorial Guinea | |
RW Rwanda | ML Mali | |
SD Sudan | MR Mauritania | |
SL Sierra Leone | NE Niger | |
SZ Swaziland | SN Senegal | |
TZ United republic of Tanzania | TD Chad | |
UG Uganda | TG Togo | |
ZM Zambia | ||
ZW Zimbabwe |
Countries that are not PCT Contracting States
Afghanistan | Iran (Islamic Republic of) | Samoa |
Andorra | Iraq | Saudi Arabia |
Argentina | Jamaica | Solomon Islands |
Bahamas | Jordan | Somalia |
Bangladesh | Kiribati | South Sudan |
Bhutan | Kuwait | Suriname |
Bolivia | Lebanon | Timor-Leste |
Burundi | Maldives | Tonga |
Cambodia | Marshall Islands | Tuvalu |
Cape Verde | Mauritius | Uruguay |
Democratic Republic of Congo | Micronesia | Vanuatu |
Djibouti | Myanmar | Venezuela |
Eritrea | Nauru | Yemen |
Ethiopia | Nepal | |
Fiji | Pakistan | Taiwan (but not a country under UN – it is a province of China) |
Guyana | Palau | |
Haiti | Paraguay |