Within 12 months of filing a provisional patent application, an applicant must decide whether they wish to complete the process of obtaining patent protection for their invention. This may be achieved in one of two ways: Direct Filing – filing a complete patent application directly in each country or region of interest PCT Filing – filing an international patent application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) to maintain pending international patent rights in 154 participating countries for an additional 18 months When pursuing a PCT filing, at the conclusion of the additional 18 months, the filing must still be nationalised in each country or region of interest.