What is PCT End - NP?

You might see a patent legal status showing as PCT End - NP. This means that the Patent Cooperation Treaty stage has ended, and the patent application has now moved on to the National Phase.

PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) is an international organization that provides a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect inventions in each contracting state. A patent application filed under the PCT is called an International Application or a PCT application. The patent applications filed in individual PCT member countries — based on the PCT application — are generally referred to as “National Phase Applications.”

PCT End - NP means:

The PCT stage has ended, and the patent application has entered the national phase (NP).

The end of the PCT stage is classed as follows:

● Past the time limit for entering the national phase, which is either 18 months from the application date or 30 months from the priority date — whichever is later — plus a 12-month buffer period; or
● The time limit for entering the national phase has not passed, but the patent application was withdrawn from the WO application itself.

An overview of the PCT System

Source: WIPO