The Practitioner's Guide to the Pct

The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is the heart of the international patent system and should be considered in every applicant’s patent filing strategy. When it is used appropriately, the PCT is a cost-effective option for international patent protection that provides benefits for applicants, patent offices, and third parties. But the PCT is also complex and challenging. 

Based on the authors’ years of experience and the important lessons they have learned, this updated edition demystifies the PCT to help practitioners employ the system to their clients’ advantage. Starting with an explanation of the PCT’s framework and covering detailed information about procedures, safeguards, and strategy, the book’s comprehensive chapters provide the necessary tools to effectively understand and use this global system.

Jay's career has spanned law practice, teaching, and international service.  He recently retired as Special Counsel at Patterson Thuente IP, where he provided strategic advice on international patent and trademark issues and served as an advisor and expert witness in disputes involving the PCT, Paris Convention, and other treaties before US, foreign, and international tribunals.  Prior to joining Patterson Thuente, Jay served as Director of the Office of the PCT and Director-Advisor to the Director General of WIPO in Geneva, Switzerland, where he played a leading role in reforming the PCT legal framework and expanding the PCT system.  Jay continues to share his unique perspective on international IP as a Professor Emeritus at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, and a visiting professor at the Vytautas Magnus University Faculty of Law in Lithuania and the KDI Graduate School of Public Policy and Management in Korea.  He co-authored The Practitioner's Guide to the PCT (first edition with Sam Helfgott and Dave Reed; revised edition with Megan Millert), published by the ABA, and he is a frequent speaker on issues in international IP policy. Jay currently lives in Minneapolis, MN.

Megan Miller’s legal career began as an international IP paralegal prosecuting both patents and trademarks for foreign clients at a large boutique IP firm in the United States. She mastered foreign filing, including the Madrid and PCT systems, a few years later and eventually had the exceedingly good fortune to work with her current mentor and coauthor, Jay  Erstling. With Jay’s encouragement, Megan decided to apply to law school. Megan attended Mitchell Hamline School of Law because of its well-known IP curriculum and because it provided flexible enrollment options that allowed her to continue working full-time as an IP paralegal throughout law school. Megan was a Research Assistant to Professor Sharon Sandeen, assisting in the creation of a blended learning format for Professor Sandeen’s IP Survey course during the COVID19 pandemic. Megan was also the Executive Editor of Cybaris, an IP law review, which published her note that reviews a conflict of laws between IP and data privacy.

Megan graduated cum laude from Mitchell Hamline School of Law with 14 years of practical international IP experience under her belt. She has been called upon by internal and external colleagues from paralegals to foreign attorneys throughout her career for advice on the PCT, and she is grateful to be able to share the knowledge she gained from the former Director of the PCT himself.

As an attorney, Megan focuses her practice on the prosecution and enforcement of IP, as well as data privacy. Megan appreciates that her work touches a wide range of technological industries—not all lawyers are so lucky. In a single day, she can move from working on trademark enforcement for a cannabis-derived pharmaceutical to international filing strategy for a medical device patent application to privacy policies and GDPR compliance for wearable tech and IoT devices. Megan currently lives in Minneapolis, MN.