Missing a PCT national phase translation deadline costs inventors their rights - permanently. The PCT grants you a unified pathway to file in 150+ countries, but the 30-month clock starts the moment you file your first domestic application. Every month demands something different: translation, legal filings, fee payments. One missed deadline, and you are done in that jurisdiction.

This is your complete PCT translation and filing roadmap, built for inventors and IP managers who can't afford to get it wrong.

The PCT Timeline: What Actually Happens and When

Priority Period (Month 0-12)

Your priority date is your anchor. File domestically first, then enter the PCT within 12 months to preserve it. Most delays we see start here - clients wait until month 11 to begin coordinating translations.

International Phase (Month 1-18)

Your application enters the international phase. The International Search Report (ISR) and Written Opinion arrive around month 16. This is your patentability readout. Use it. Start translation planning now - not when month 28 arrives.

National Phase Entry (Month 30 Deadline)

This is where patents die. You have until 30 months from your priority date to enter the national phase in every country you want protection. Each entry requires the translated application, local filing fees, and a registered patent agent. Miss it - the right is gone.

Translation Deadlines That Kill Filings

Most PCT member states require translated specifications at national phase entry. The EPO gives you 31 months. China, Japan, South Korea, and most Southeast Asian offices enforce the 30-month deadline strictly. No extensions.

Unity of Invention: The Cost Trap Most Filers Miss

The PCT requires your application to cover one invention or a group of linked inventions. If your disclosure describes multiple distinct inventions, expect a unity objection - and with it, the requirement to either divide your application or restrict your claims.

The financial consequence: each divisional application needs its own full translation. One poorly structured PCT filing can mean three to five separate translations instead of one.

Pre-filing review is cheap. Fixing unity issues mid-process is not.

Your 30-Day PCT Action Plan

Why Your Translation Strategy Determines Your Total Cost

The most expensive mistake we see: commissioning separate translations for each target country without a coordinated workflow. Your source specification is identical across jurisdictions. A master translation - produced by a patent domain expert with knowledge of your target patent office formatting standards - serves as the foundation for regional adaptations with proper certification.

Coordinated workflow versus siloed per-country commissioning typically reduces total translation spend by 30-50%.

End-to-End PCT Support from Artlangs Translation

Managing patent translations across 150+ countries requires patent law terminology expertise, not just language fluency. It requires ISO-grade quality processes, deadline tracking infrastructure, and translators with verified backgrounds in engineering, pharmaceuticals, and software - not generalists who happen to read patent documents.

Artlangs Translation delivers exactly that. Our patent translation team operates across 230+ languages, with certified workflows that meet the specific requirements of the USPTO, EPO, CNIPA, JPO, KIPO, and every major Southeast Asian patent office. Beyond patent filings, we support the full IP documentation lifecycle: technical due diligence, IP licensing agreements, and litigation support materials - all handled with the same domain precision.

Our localization infrastructure also serves clients with broader multilingual needs: video and drama subtitle localization, game localization, audio drama multilingual dubbing, and multilingual data annotation and transcription, backed by years of cross-industry case experience.

The 30-month deadline does not negotiate. Neither do we.