Guide, September 2026
How to File a PCT Application from the United States in 2026
The PCT does not give you an international patent. It gives you one filing, one search, and thirty months before you have to decide which countries are worth paying for. Here is the sequence and what it costs.
The receiving office and the timeline
A US resident or national files the international application with the USPTO acting as receiving office, RO/US. The USPTO checks the formalities, sets the international filing date, and transmits the record copy to the International Bureau and the search copy to the International Searching Authority. Practice is in MPEP Chapter 1800.
- Month 0. Priority date, usually a US provisional or a first nonprovisional.
- Month 12. The international application is generally filed within twelve months after the first application.
- Months 9 to 16. International search report and written opinion, due three months from receipt of the search copy or nine months from priority, whichever expires later.
- Month 18. International publication, effected promptly after eighteen months from the priority date.
- Month 22 or later. Optional Chapter II demand, due before the later of three months from transmittal of the search report and 22 months from priority.
- Month 30. National stage requirements due where no demand has been filed. Many offices allow 31 months.
The USPTO fees
Three fees are paid to the USPTO at filing. The transmittal fee is $285 undiscounted, $114 for a small entity, $57 for a micro entity. The international search fee where the USPTO acts as ISA is $2,400 undiscounted, $960 small entity, $480 micro entity. The international filing fee for the first thirty pages runs from $1,416 to $1,667 depending on the electronic filing method used, and the USPTO schedule does not tier it by US entity size. All from the USPTO fee schedule effective January 19, 2025, last revised August 14, 2026. National phase fees in each country are separate and are the larger cost. Entity status affects the US side; see the micro entity status guide. Attorney fees are published in the patent prosecution cost guide.
PCT or direct Paris filings
PCT buys time and information. You defer the country-by-country spend to month thirty and you see a search report before committing. Direct filings at twelve months under the Paris Convention are cheaper when you already know the small set of countries you want. My rule of thumb: if the list is settled and short, file direct. If the list depends on where the product sells in two years, file PCT.
If you are an individual inventor or a small company
PCT is usually a way to keep the door open cheaply rather than a plan to file everywhere. At micro entity rates the USPTO side is a fraction of the undiscounted number, and what you are buying is eighteen extra months to find out whether foreign markets matter to you. Be honest about the back end: entering three national phases at month thirty is a much larger bill than the PCT filing itself, and a PCT you never enter anywhere is money spent on optionality you did not use.
If you run a corporate patent program
Treat month thirty as a portfolio decision point with real data: the search report, eighteen months of market signal, and whatever competitor filings surfaced meanwhile. Standardise which families default to PCT and which go direct, so the choice is not made case by case under deadline pressure. Plan the US side too. If your applicant entity is foreign-domiciled, the US national phase needs a registered US practitioner under the rule effective July 20, 2026, covered in the foreign applicant representation guide.
Sources
Common questions
How do you file a PCT application from the United States?
A US resident or national files the international application with the USPTO acting as receiving office, RO/US, normally within twelve months of the first application whose priority is claimed. The USPTO checks the formalities, an International Searching Authority issues a search report and written opinion, and the application is published at eighteen months from priority.
What does a PCT application cost at the USPTO?
Three USPTO-collected fees start the process. The transmittal fee is $285 undiscounted, $114 small entity, $57 micro entity. The international search fee where the USPTO acts as ISA is $2,400 undiscounted, $960 small entity, $480 micro entity. The international filing fee for the first 30 pages runs from $1,416 to $1,667 depending on the electronic filing method. All from the USPTO fee schedule effective January 19, 2025, last revised August 14, 2026.
When is the PCT national phase deadline?
The national stage requirements are due not later than the expiration of 30 months from the priority date where no demand has been filed. A number of offices allow 31 months, and a few have their own variations, so the deadline is checked office by office rather than assumed.
What is a Chapter II demand and do you need one?
A demand for international preliminary examination opens a second round in which you can amend and argue before an examining authority, producing a preliminary report on patentability. It must be filed before the later of three months from transmittal of the search report and written opinion, or 22 months from the priority date. Most applicants skip it, because the 30-month deadline no longer depends on it.
Should you file PCT or direct national applications?
PCT buys time and information. It defers the expensive country-by-country decision to 30 months from priority and gives you a search report before you commit. Direct Paris Convention filings at twelve months are cheaper if you already know the two or three countries you want and do not need the extra runway. If the country list is uncertain, PCT is usually the better purchase.
Does a PCT application become a patent by itself?
No. There is no international patent. The PCT produces a single application with an international filing date and a search, and then each national or regional office you enter examines and grants on its own terms.
What does a foreign applicant need to enter the US national phase?
A foreign-domiciled applicant needs a registered US patent practitioner. Since the rule that took effect July 20, 2026 the USPTO requires representation by a registered practitioner for foreign-domiciled applicants, so the US national phase entry is signed and prosecuted by US counsel rather than by the foreign associate directly.
Can you add new matter when entering the national phase?
No. The national phase is the same international application, so its disclosure is fixed as of the international filing date. New subject matter has to go into a new application, typically a continuation-in-part filed in the United States, which gets its own later date for the new material.
USPTO fees above were taken from the fee schedule on September 4, 2026; PCT fees set in Swiss francs move with exchange rates. This is a practitioner's explainer, not legal advice on a specific international filing. Firm fees are published in the patent prosecution cost guide, and the firm can take a specific deadline.