Concurrent Filing Of U.S. And PCT Applications

It is possible to file identical, concurrent PCT and U.S. applications, and there are advantages of doing so. One advantage is that from time to time the two applications are assigned to two different examiners. If the U.S. examiner is more positive than the PCT examiner, we can then stick with the filed U.S. application through issuance. If the U.S. examiner is more difficult than the PCT examiner, we can drop the U.S. application in favor of a second U.S. national phase application filed off the PCT. That second U.S. application will often get to the PCT examiner, which presumably will be more favorable.

The second advantage is that the U.S. patent application is already in the hopper from the beginning, 30 months before the applicant might otherwise file the U.S. national phase filing application. If the Preliminary Examination Report from the PCT is favorable, then the U.S. national phase will more likely be taken up immediately and essentially rubber stamped by the U.S. examiner. And even if the Preliminary Examination Report from the PCT is unfavorable, the U.S. prosecution should be at or near the top of the stack, and delay in prosecution would have been avoided.