My patent application has been rejected in one European country. Can I still try to get the patent granted by applying to a patent office in another country?
If your application for a national patent is denied in one country, this generally does not exclude you from requesting that it be granted in another country. Its success depends on whether the application will (still) fulfil the requirements for the granting of a patent at the time of second filing, specifically with regard to the invention’s novelty. Should the first (refused) application for a patent be filed to the European Patent Office following the procedure for a so-called European patent, however, all contracting countries of the European Patent Convention (EPC) in which the applicant seeks protection of its invention via a national patent, need to be named at the same time with the request for granting. Subsequent designations of additional countries are not possible. Similar procedural requirements also have to be taken into account in case of an international application following the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).
