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Digital Certificates

The WIPO Customer Certification Authority (CA) issues certificates corresponding to the definition of low-level digital certificates in Annex F, Appendix II PDF, Annex F, Appendix II.

Using the certificate with ePCT

WIPO digital certificate is one of the strong authentication methods for ePCT but less convenient (installation, back-up, renewal etc.) and slower to set up than a push notification, a one-time password by a standard app on a mobile device or sent by text message to your mobile or landline telephone: certificate requests are manually processed during WIPO's office hours. For further details on strong authentication and on adding a digital certificate to your WIPO account please see the PCT eServices Help topic on strong authentication.

Obtaining a certificate

  1. Enrollment: is only possible via your WIPO Account, see How to request a WIPO digital certificate in ePCT.
  2. Processing: the request is generally processed within one WIPO business day (certificates are not issued automatically).
  3. Approval: instructions to pick up the certificate, or the notification of rejection, are sent to the e-mail address given during enrollment.
  4. Retrieval: after approval, the certificate must be picked up within one week.

Important to know

  • The WIPO Customer digital certificate may only be issued to individuals and not in the name of companies. Individuals working for companies are invited to apply for certificates using their own names.
  • We expect the PCT user to have only one active certificate at any given time.
  • Enrollment and pick-up must be done using the same computer and browser. Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge are supported; other browsers, such as  Safari will NOT work.
  • It is strongly recommended to save a copy of your certificate (see second user guide below) for backup purposes.

User guides

For assistance please contact the PCT Operations Customer Support Section.