Taking the Droplet Worldwide: The PCT Application

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! Before the US patent was granted in 2014, the electrowetting invention traveled the world as an international PCT application, published in 2011. Elena and Marcus explain what the Patent Cooperation Treaty actually is (and is not — there is no "world patent"), why inventors file internationally, and how the Crane–Mishra–Volinsky droplet actuation invention was described and claimed for a worldwide audience, from its December 2009 priority filing to the granted US patent. Note: voices in this episode are AI-generated.