Patents: International

An invention must receive a separate patent in each country in which the inventor wishes to exercise his or her property rights.  There are several multi-national organizations designed to facilitate obtaining patents in multiple countries. 

This page provides links to the multinational organizations and national patent offices which have websites, organized by continent. Some countries which span two continents are listed under both headings.

For contact information for patent offices not listed below, see the WIPO Directory of Intellectual Property Offices (http://www.wipo.int/directory/en/urls.jsp)

World Intellectual Property Organization

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is an intergovernmental organization with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. It is one of the 16 "specialized agencies" of the United Nations system of organizations. WIPO is responsible for the promotion of the protection of intellectual property throughout the world through cooperation among States, and for the administration of dealing with the legal and administrative aspects of intellectual property.

African Intellectual Property Organization (AIPO) = Orgaisation Africaine de la Propriete Intellectuelle (OAPI)

The OAPI serves primarly nations of Francophone Africa; Website is in French and English, also available in Spanish. Japanese and Arabic.

African Regional Intellectual Property Organization

The ARIPO serves primarily nations of Anglophone Africa. Website is in English.

Benelux Office for Intellectual Property

Serves Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg

Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Patent Office

GCCPO serves six states of the Arabian Peninsula. Website is available in Arabic and English.

Eurasian Patent Organization

EAPO serves Russia and eight other nations of the former Soviet Union.Website in Russian and English.

European Patent Office

The EPO serves 38 European nations, including all members of the European Union (EU). Website in English, French and German.

International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants

The UPOV is an intergovernmental organization for the protection of intellectual propety rights for new varieties of plants. with 67 member states.  It is headquartered in Geneva.  Website in English, French, German and Spanish.

Afghanistan - Afghanistan Central Business Registry (http://acbr.gov.af/) In English; page is under development.

Armenia - Intellectual Property Agency (http://www.aipa.am/en/) - In English, Armenian, and Russian

Azerbaijan - State Agency on Standardization, Metrology and Patent (http://www.azstand.gov.az/index.php?lang=en) - In English, Azerbaijani and Russian

Bahrain - Industrial Property Directorate (http://www.moic.gov.bh/En/Commerce/ForeignTrade/IndustrialPropertyDirectorate/Pages/index.aspx) - In English and Arabic

Bangladesh - Department of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (http://www.dpdt.gov.bd/) In English

Bhutan - Intellectual Property, Ministry of Economic Affairs (http://www.ipbhutan.gov.bt/) - In English

Brunei Darussalam - Intellectual Property Office (http://www.bruipo.com.bn/) In English

Cambodia - Department of Intellectual Property (http://www.cambodiaip.gov.kh/default.aspx?lang=en) - In Khmer and English

China - Intellectual Property Office (http://english.sipo.gov.cn/) - In English and Chinese

Hong Kong - Intellectual Property Department (http://www.ipd.gov.hk/eng/home.htm) - In English and Chinese

Macau - Intellectual Property (http://www.economia.gov.mo/en_US/web/public/pg_ip?_refresh=true) - In English, CHinese and Portuguese

Georgia - National Intellectual Property Center (http://www.sakpatenti.org.ge/index.php?lang_id=GEO&sec_id=16&lang_id=ENG) - In English and Georgian

India -Intellectual Property India (http://www.ipindia.nic.in/) -- In English

Indonesia - Directorate General of Intellectual Property Rights (http://www.dgip.go.id/) - In EIndonesian

Iran - Industrial Property General Office (http://iripo.ssaa.ir/Default.aspx?tabid=3974) In nEnglish and Farsi

Israel - Patent Office (http://index.justice.gov.il/En/Units/ILPO/Pages/default.aspx) - In English, Hebrew, Arabic and Russian.

Japan - Japan Patent Office (http://www.jpo.go.jp/) - In English and Japanese

Jordan - Industrial Property Protection Directorate (http://www.mit.gov.jo/Default.aspx?tabid=384) - In English and Arabic

Kazakhstan - National Institute of Intellectual Property (http://www.kazpatent.kz/index.php/en/) - In English, Kazakh and Russian

Korea, Republic of (South Korea) - Korea Intellectual Property Organization (http://www.kipo.go.kr/eng/main/main.html) - In English and Korean

Kyrgyzstan - Intellectual Property Office of Kyrgyzstan (http://patent.kg/) - In English, Kyrgyz and Russian

Lao People's Democratic Republic (Laos) - Department of Intellectual Property, Standards and Metrology (http://www.stea.la.wipo.net/index.html) - In English

Lebanon - Ministry of Economy and Trade (http://www.economy.gov.lb/index.php/serviceSubCat/2/7/2) In English and Arabic

Malaysia - Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (http://www.myipo.gov.my/) - In English

Mongolia - Intellectual Property Office of Mongolia (http://www.ipom.mn/) - In Mongolian (English not yet available)

Nepal - Industrial Property Office (http://www.ip.np.wipo.net/patent.htm) - In English

Oman - Ministry of Commerce and Industry Patent FAQ (http://www.mocioman.gov.om/IPD-1.aspx) In English and Arabic

Pakistan - Intellectual Propery Organization of Pakistan (http://www.ipo.gov.pk/) - In English

Papua New Guinea - Intellectual Property Office (http://www.ipopng.gov.pg/) - in English

Philippines - Intellectual Property Philippines (http://ipophil.gov.ph/) - In English

Russian Federation (Russia) - Rospatent (http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_en/en) - In English and Russian

Saudi Arabia  KACST General Directorate of Industrial Property (http://www.kacst.edu.sa/en/about/directorates/Pages/ip.aspx) In English and Arabic

Singapore - Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (http://www.ipos.gov.sg/topNav/hom/) - In English

Sri Lanka - National Intellectual Property Office of Sri Lanka (http://www.nipo.gov.lk/) - In English

Syrian Arab Republic (Syria) - Syrian Patent Office (http://www.spo.gov.sy/) - In Arabic

Taiwan (Republic of China) - Intellectual Property Office (http://www.tipo.gov.tw/mp.asp?mp=2) - In English and Chinese

Tajikistan - National Center for Patents and Information (http://www.tjpat.org/) - In Tajik

Thailand - IP Thailand () - http://www.ipthailand.org/) In Thai

Turkey - Turkish Patent Institute (http://www.tpe.gov.tr/portal/default_en.jsp) - In English and Turkish

United Arab Emirates - Industrial Property, Ministry of Economy (http://www.economy.ae/English/IndustrialProperty/Pages/default.aspx) - In English and Arabic

Uzbekistan - State Patent Office of the Republic of Uzbekistan http://ima.uz/en/) - In English, Uzbek and Russian

Vietnam - National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam http://www.noip.gov.vn/web/noip/home/en) - In English and Vietnamese

Yemen - Yemen Intellectual Property Office (http://www.yipo.gov.ye/) - In Arabic (English not yet available)

Australia - IP Australia (http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/) - In English

Fiji - Intellectual Property Office (http://www.ag.gov.fj/default.aspx?Page=FijiIntellectual) In English

New Zealand - Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (http://www.iponz.govt.nz/cms) - In English

Tonga - Registry and Intellectual Property Office (http://www.mlci.gov.to/?page_id=1042) In English

Albania - Albanian Patents and TradeMarks Office (http://www.alpto.gov.al/) - In English and Albanian

Andorra - Oficina de Marques del Principat d'Andorra (http://www.ompa.ad/en/) - In English and Catalan

Armenia - Intellectual Property Agency (http://www.aipa.am/en/) - In English, Armenian, and Russian

Austria - Österreichisches Patentamt (http://www.patentamt.at/Home/index1.html) - In English and German

Azerbaijan - State Agency on Standardization, Metrology and Patent (http://www.azstand.gov.az/index.php?lang=en) - In English, Azerbaijani and Russian

Belarus - National Center of Intellectual Property (http://www.belgospatent.org.by/eng/) - In English and Russian

Belgium - Belgian Intellectual Property Office (http://economie.fgov.be/en/entreprises/Intellectual_property/Aspects_institutionnels_et_pratiques/OPRI/#.U_fLnRCweXo) - In English, Dutch, French and German

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Institute for Intellectual Property (http://www.ipr.gov.ba/en/) - In English, Bosnian, Croatian and Russian..

Bulgaria - Patent Office of the Republic of Bulgaria (http://www.bpo.bg/) - In English and Bulgarian

Croatia - State Intellectual Property Office of the Republic of Croatia (http://www.dziv.hr/en/default.aspx?pArtID=6&selection=0) - In English and Croatian

Cyprus - Department of Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver (http://www.mcit.gov.cy/mcit/drcor/drcor.nsf/index_en/index_en?OpenDocument) - In English, Greek and Turkish

Czech Republic - Industrial Property Office (http://www.upv.cz/en.html) - In English, Czech, French and German

Denmark - Danish Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.dkpto.org/) - In English and Danish

Estonia - Estonian Patent Office (http://www.epa.ee/en) - In English and Estonian

Finland - National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland (http://www.prh.fi/en.html) - In English, Finnish and Swedish

France - Institut Nationale de la Propriété Industrielle (http://www.inpi.fr/) - In French

Georgia - National Intellectual Property Center (http://www.sakpatenti.org.ge/index.php?lang_id=GEO&sec_id=16&lang_id=ENG) -- In English and Georgian

Germany - Deutches Patent- und Markeamt (http://www.dpma.de/english/index.html) - In English and German

Greece - Industrial Property Organization (http://www.obi.gr/obi/Default.aspx?tabid=71&) - In English and Greek

Hungary - Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (http://www.hipo.gov.hu/English/) - In English, Hungarian, French and German

Iceland - Icelandic Patent Office (http://www.els.is/en) - In English and Icelandic

Ireland - Irish Patent Office (http://www.patentsoffice.ie/) - In English and Gaelic

Italy - Uffizio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi (http://www.uibm.gov.it/index.php/la-proprieta-industriale) - In Italian (English page under construction)

Latvia - Patent Office of the Republic of Latvia (http://www.lrpv.gov.lv/en) - In English and Latvian

Liechtenstein  - Office of Economics (http://www.llv.li/#/1691) In German

Lithuania - State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania (http://www.vpb.gov.lt/index.php?l=EN) - In English and Lithuanian

Luxembourg -Direction de la Propriété Intellectuelle (http://www.eco.public.lu/attributions/dg7/d_propriete_intellectuelle/index.html) - In French

Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of - State Office of Industrial Property (http://www.ippo.gov.mk/MK/Index_mk.aspxf) - In  Macedonian

Malta - Industrial Property Registrations Directorate (http://www.commerce.gov.mt/ipr.asp) - In English

Moldova - State Agency on Intellectual Property of the Republic of Moldova (http://agepi.gov.md/en/index.php) - In English, Moldovan, and Russian

Monaco - Public Services of the Princely Government of Monaco: Intellectual Property (http://en.service-public-entreprises.gouv.mc/Intellectual-property/Patents) In English and French

Montenegro - Intellectual Property Office of Montenegro (http://www.ziscg.me/index.php/en) In English and Montenegrin

Netherlands - Netherlands Enterprise Agency (http://english.rvo.nl/topics/innovation/patents-other-ip-rights/) - In English and Dutch

Norway - Norwegian Industrial Property Office (http://www.patentstyret.no/en/english/) - In English and Norwegian

Poland - Polish Patent Office (http://www.uprp.pl/strona-glowna/Menu01,9,0,index,pl/) - In English and Polish

Portugal - Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property (http://www.marcasepatentes.pt/) - In English and Portuguese.

Romania - State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (http://www.osim.ro/index3.html) - In English and Romanian

Russian Federation (Russia) - Rospatent (http://www1.fips.ru/wps/wcm/connect/content_en/en) - In English and Russian

San Marino - Patents and Trademarks Office (http://www.usbm.sm/on-line/en/home.html) In English and Italian

Serbia - Intellectual Property Office (hhttp://www.zis.gov.rs/home.59.html) -- In English and Serbian

Slovakia -Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic (http://www.upv.sk/?introduction) - In English and Slovak

Slovenia - Slovenian Intellectual Property Office (http://www.uil-sipo.si/sipo/office/tools/home/) - In English and Slovenian

Spain - Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas (http://www.oepm.es/en/index.html) - In English, Basque, Catalan, Galician and Spanish (Castilian)

Sweden -Swedish Patent and Registration Office (http://www.prv.se/en/) - In English and Swedish

Switzerland - Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (https://www.ige.ch/en.html) - In English, French, German and Italian

Turkey - Turkish Patent Institute (http://www.tpe.gov.tr/portal/default_en.jsp) - In English and Turkish

Ukraine - Ukrainian Institute of Intellectual Property (http://www.ukrpatent.org/en) - In English and Ukrainian

United Kingdom - Intellectual Property Office (http://www.ipo.gov.uk/) - In English

Barbados - Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office (http://www.caipo.gov.bb/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=69&Itemid=87) - In English

Belize - Belize Intellectual Property Office (http://www.belipo.bz/) - In English

Canada - Canadian Intellectual Property Office (http://www.opic.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/home) - In English and French

Costa Rica - Registro Nacional (http://www.registronacional.go.cr/propiedad_industrial/index.htm) - In Spanish

Cuba - Oficina Cubana de la Propiedad Industrial (http://www.ocpi.cu/) - In Spanish

Dominica - Companies and Intellectual Property Office (http://www.cipo.gov.dm) In English

Dominican Republic - Oficina Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial (http://www.onapi.gov.do/) - In Spanish

El Salvador - Centro Nacional de Registros (http://www.cnr.gob.sv/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=83&Itemid=119) - In Spanish

Guatemala - Registro de Propiedad Intelectual (http://www.rpi.gob.gt/) - In Spanish

Honduras - Dirección General de la Propiedad Intelectual (http://www.digepih.webs.com/) - In Spanish

Jamaica - Jamaica Intellectual Property Office (http://www.jipo.gov.jm/) - In English

Mexico - Instituto Mexicono de la Propiedad Industrail (http://www.impi.gob.mx/) - In Spanish

Nicaragua - Registro Propiedad Intelectual (http://rpi.mific.gob.ni/) - In Spanish

Panama - Sistem en línea de Propiedad Industrial (http://www.digerpi.gob.pa/) - In Spanish

Saint Lucia - Registry of Companies and Intellectual Property (http://www.rocip.gov.lc/stlucia/default.aspx) In English

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Commerce & Intellectual Property Office http://www.cipo.gov.vc/) - In English

Trinidad and Tobago - Intellectual Property Office http://www.ipo.gov.tt/) - In English

United States of America - U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uspto.gov/) - In English

Argentina - Instituto Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial (http://www.inpi.gov.ar/) - In Spanish

Bolivia - Servicio Nacional de Propiedad Intelectual (http://www.senapi.gob.bo/) - In Spanish (English page is under construction)

Brazil - Instituto Nacional de la Propriedade Industrial (http://www.inpi.gov.br/portal/) - In Portuguese

Chile - Instituto Nacional de Propiedad Industrial http://www.inapi.cl/portal/institucional/600/w3-channel.html) - In Spanish

Colombia - Superintendencia Industria y Comercio (http://www.sic.gov.co/) - In Spanish

Ecuador - Instituto Ecuadoriana de Propiedad Intelectual (http://www.propiedadintelectual.gob.ec/) - In Spanish

Guyana - Registry of Deeds, Ministry of Legal Affairs (http://legalaffairs.gov.gy/deeds-registry/registry-overview) In English

Paraguay - Direccion General dePropiedad Intelectual (http://www.mic.gov.py/v1/node/43) In Spanish

Peru - Instituto Nacional de la Defensa de la Competencia y de la Protección de la Propiedad Intelectual (http://www.indecopi.gob.pe/) - In Spanish

Suriname - Bureau Intellectuele Eigendom (http://www.gov.sr/sr/ministerie-van-juspol/over-justitie-en-politie/departementen/departements-leiding/bureau-intellectuele-eigendom.aspx) In Dutch

Uruguay - Dirección Nacional de la Propiedad Industrial (http://www.miem.gub.uy/web/marcas-y-patentes) - In Spanish

Venezuela - Servicio Autónomo de la Propiedad Intelectual (http://www.sapi.gob.ve/) - In Spanish