PCT national phase in Latin America and Africa: medtech map

For a medtech or life-science scale-up, PCT national phase in Latin America and Africa is not one deadline but a map: most countries must be entered 30 or 31 months from priority, Africa adds two regional routes (OAPI and ARIPO), and four South American countries, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Venezuela, cannot be reached through the PCT at all. This guide sets out where to enter, when, and what to do about the gaps. It is written for founders, CTOs and in-house IP leads planning a patent budget beyond Europe and the United States.

Key takeaways

WIPO’s status list of 19 May 2026 counts 159 PCT states. Uruguay joined on 7 January 2025, without Chapter II.
In Latin America, Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Peru apply 30 months; Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica apply 31.
OAPI is the only route into its 17 member states; ARIPO covers 20 Harare Protocol states and accepts entry at 31 months.
Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Venezuela need a direct national filing within the 12-month Paris priority period.
Methods of treatment and diagnosis are excluded from patents in the Andean Community and under ARIPO’s Harare Protocol, so claim strategy matters as much as the country list.

Which countries can a PCT application reach in Latin America and Africa?

The PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) lets you file one international application that keeps your options open in every member state until the national phase, when you choose countries, pay national fees and file translations. According to WIPO’s status table of PCT member states (19 May 2026), the treaty had 159 contracting states.

Coverage in the corridor is broad but not complete. In Latin America the main markets are in: Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Panama, the Dominican Republic, most of Central America and, since 7 January 2025, Uruguay. Missing from the list are Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Venezuela. In Africa almost every market is covered, either nationally or through a regional office. The exceptions in that same table include Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Eritrea, Somalia and South Sudan.

PCT national phase in Latin America: 30 or 31 months?

Article 22 of the PCT sets a 30-month minimum from the priority date for entering the national phase, and national law may allow longer. WIPO publishes the limit each office applies. These are the figures for the main markets, taken from WIPO’s table of national phase time limits:

Country	Months from priority (Chapter I)	Practical note
Brazil	30	Translation into Portuguese
Mexico	30	Often a first entry for North and Central American sales
Chile, Peru	30	Peru applies Andean Community rules
Colombia, Ecuador	31	Andean Community rules; one extra month
Costa Rica	31	EPO validation agreement signed, not yet in force
Panama, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua	30	Usually decided together as a Central America and Caribbean block
Uruguay	30	Not bound by Chapter II (international preliminary examination)

The difference between 30 and 31 months looks minor, but the mistake we see most often is working to a single “31-month” date for the whole region. In a multi-country entry, the shortest limit sets the calendar.

Africa: OAPI, ARIPO or national entry?

Africa is where the PCT map needs the most care, because two regional systems sit alongside national offices.

OAPI: one title, no national alternative

The African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), based in Yaoundé, is the common office for its 17 member states, mostly French-speaking West and Central Africa. As OAPI explains on its page on how the system works, a single title is valid in all member states and there are no national systems running in parallel. For a PCT application, that means one entry, at OAPI, at 30 months. You cannot pick Cameroon and skip Senegal.

ARIPO: a regional option you can mix with national entries

The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) grants patents under the Harare Protocol. The 2025 edition of the Protocol lists 20 contracting states as of 1 January 2025, including Kenya, Ghana, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. ARIPO accepts PCT entry at 31 months. Some ARIPO states also allow national entry (Kenya and Ghana at 30 months), while Eswatini can only be reached through ARIPO. One feature matters for medtech: under section 46, each designated state may tell ARIPO that a granted patent will have no effect in its territory, for example because of the nature of the invention.

National entries and EPO validation

The large non-regional markets are entered nationally: South Africa, Morocco and Algeria at 31 months; Egypt, Tunisia and Nigeria at 30. Morocco and Tunisia can also be covered by validating a European patent: both validation agreements are in force, according to the EPO’s list of validation states, while Angola’s agreement, signed on 23 June 2026, is not yet operational.

What to do in countries outside the PCT

For Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Venezuela, a PCT application gives you nothing. All four are parties to the Paris Convention, so the route is a national application claiming priority from your first filing. As WIPO’s summary of the Paris Convention explains, that priority period is 12 months for patents. In practice, the decision on these countries falls at month 12, a year and a half before the rest of the region.

Argentina may change. Its Chamber of Deputies approved PCT accession in late August 2026 with a Chapter II reservation, and the text returned to the Senate, as Allende & Brea reported on 1 September 2026. Even if it is completed, PCT Rule 4.9(a) means an application only designates the states bound on its international filing date. Applications already filed will not reach Argentina, so Argentina still needs the Paris route for filings made now.

Two further points. Bolivia applies the Andean Community’s common regime, Decision 486, as do Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Venezuela is subject to EU and US restrictive measures; check fee payments and counterparties against sanctions rules with your adviser before filing.

Medtech and life-science claims: what changes country by country

The country list is half the job. The other half is making sure the claims you take into each office can be granted there.

Article 20(d) of Andean Decision 486 excludes therapeutic, surgical and diagnostic methods applied to humans or animals, and Article 21 refuses a new patent simply because a known product is given a new use.
Section 9(1)(c) of the Harare Protocol excludes the same methods from ARIPO patents, while keeping products, substances and compositions for use in those methods patentable.
Device, diagnostic kit and software-assisted claims usually travel better than method-of-treatment claims, but each office applies its own practice.

Our recommendation is to review the claim set before month 30, not after the first office action, so that the version entering each region already fits its exclusions.

What this means for your business

At month 10 to 12: decide on Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Venezuela, because the Paris deadline closes at month 12.
At month 18 to 22: rank the PCT markets by revenue, manufacturing and competitor presence; decide whether to request Chapter II examination (not available for Uruguay).
At month 26: freeze the country list, order translations and adapt claims to the method exclusions.
At months 30 and 31: enter OAPI, the 30-month countries and then ARIPO and the 31-month countries, in that order.
After entry: track annuities and office actions in one docket, not one per correspondent.

If you need this mapped across both regions with a single budget, our team for cross-border IP strategy and multi-jurisdiction patent planning can build the calendar with you, and our international patent filing team can coordinate the entries.

Where scale-ups get PCT national phase wrong

Assuming the PCT covers all of South America. Discovering at month 30 that Argentina or Paraguay needed a filing at month 12 is a loss that cannot be undone.
Working to 31 months everywhere. Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru and OAPI apply 30.
Treating OAPI like ARIPO. OAPI is all or nothing; ARIPO can be combined with national entries.
Entering with claims built for the EPO or the USPTO. Method claims that survive elsewhere can be refused in the Andean Community or under the Harare Protocol.
Counting on reinstatement. PCT Rule 49.6 allows it where a delay was unintentional or occurred despite due care, but offices can declare it incompatible with their law and it adds cost and uncertainty.

Most of these errors come from splitting the work between a European firm and several local agents who each see one country. A single coordinator who holds the whole calendar avoids them.

Frequently asked questions

What is the PCT national phase deadline in Latin America?

It depends on the country. According to WIPO’s table, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Panama, Uruguay and most of Central America apply 30 months from the priority date, while Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica apply 31 months. In a multi-country entry the shortest limit sets the calendar, so plan around 30 months.

Can I enter Argentina through the PCT?

Not at present. Argentina was not a PCT member in WIPO’s status list of 19 May 2026, and its accession was still before Congress in September 2026. Because a PCT application only designates states bound on its filing date, filings made now need a national application in Argentina within the 12-month Paris priority period.

Should I choose OAPI or ARIPO for Africa?

They are not alternatives. OAPI covers its 17 member states with one title and is the only route into them. ARIPO covers 20 Harare Protocol states and can be combined with national entries where those are allowed. Many applicants enter OAPI at 30 months and decide between ARIPO and national entries for English-speaking markets at 31 months.

Can IP Global Guard manage our PCT national phase across Latin America and Africa?

Yes. We build the country map and calendar, review the claims against local exclusions and coordinate filings through qualified local correspondents in each office, with European patent attorneys for EPO validation routes. You deal with one point of contact and one budget for the whole entry.

How IP Global Guard can help you plan the entry

A national phase plan for Latin America and Africa works when one team sees the Paris deadlines, the 30- and 31-month dates, the regional offices and the claim exclusions together. IP Global Guard, the IP services line of META Channel Corporation Limited, coordinates that work with one strategy and one billing relationship across more than 25 jurisdictions; see our coverage in Europe, Latin America and Africa.

Send us your priority date, the PCT application number and the markets you are considering. We will map the deadlines, flag the countries that need action before month 12 and propose an entry plan. Talk to our patent strategy team.

This article is general information, not legal advice, and reflects the position on its publication date.

Medtech and life sciences: PCT national phase in Latin America and Africa

Key takeaways

Which countries can a PCT application reach in Latin America and Africa?

PCT national phase in Latin America: 30 or 31 months?