Before filing a provisional patent application, it is important
to consider whether or not one or more foreign filing licenses
should be obtained. If a foreign filing license is needed and is
not obtained, then that may provide a bar to later obtaining patent
rights in certain countries.
It may be necessary to first seek the permission of a relevant
country (i.e. obtain a foreign filing license in that country) to
file a patent application, if for example:
- A patent application is to be filed by a national of the
relevant country;
- A patent application is to be filed by a resident of the
relevant country;
- A patent application could be considered to contain national
secrets; and/or
