PCT Newsletter

July-August 2026 | No. 07-08/2026

PCT Assembly – key outcomes from 58th session

All 25 ISAs and IPEAs reappointed; 26th Authority appointed; PCT Regulations amended

At its 58th session, held in Geneva as part of the meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO from 9 to 17 July 2026, the PCT Assembly:

Image: WIPO/Berrod

  • extended the appointment of existing International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authorities; 
  • appointed the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) as a new International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA); and 
  • adopted a range of amendments to the PCT Regulations and modifications to Directives of the Assembly. 

Documents for the session are available online, and a draft report will be published on the same web page imminently. 

All 25 of the national Offices and intergovernmental organizations currently acting as International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authorities under the PCT have had their appointments extended until 31 December 2037 (document PCT/A/58/2). Before that date, they will each sign a new agreement with the International Bureau (IB) of WIPO in relation to their international search and preliminary examination operations. The Assembly approved the draft texts for these agreements in a new model format – discussed further below. 
IMPI will become the 26th ISA and IPEA under the PCT – and the third based in Latin America and the Caribbean. It will begin operations after its agreement with the IB has been signed and comes into effect (documents PCT/A/58/3 and PCT/A/58/3 ADD.).

Amendments to the PCT Regulations are set out in document PCT/A/58/1, and include:

  • Changes aimed at improving electronic services and providing a higher degree of protection for personal data provided for PCT processing. These amendments will require the provision of an email address and a telephone number for processing an international application, allow the exclusion of certain personal data from public access, and provide a basis for changing the address to which correspondence is to be addressed later than 30 months from the priority date. They will take effect from 1 July 2027.
  • Changes supporting the use of a new model agreement that forms the basis of the agreements that each Office or organization will have with the International Bureau in relation to its functioning as an ISA/IPEA from 1 January 2028. The new draft agreements – each of which was also approved by the Assembly – no longer have separate annexes setting out the operational information for the relevant ISA/IPEA; this information will be published in the Official Notices (PCT Gazette) and reflected in the PCT Applicant’s Guide. 
  • Changes to clarify that the processing of an international application considered withdrawn following failure to supply an electronic copy of an international application filed on paper in accordance with Rule 89bis.1(d-ter) will take place in the same way as other cases where the receiving Office declares that an international application is considered withdrawn. 
  • A minor correction of the French version of Rule 26.3ter.

The Assembly also adopted modifications to Directives of the PCT Assembly relating to the Establishment of Equivalent Amounts of Certain Fees. The modified Directives will apply from 1 January 2027 (as also set out in document PCT/A/58/1). The changes will streamline the process for establishing equivalent amounts in different currencies when the amount of a fee is changed, and will also reduce the time for a new equivalent amount to take effect following a fluctuation in an exchange rate. 

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