The Washington Diplomatic Conference on the Patent Cooperation Treaty was held in Washington from May 25 to June 19, 1970.

A Patent Cooperation Treaty/Patent Prosecution Highway (PCT/PPH) pilot program was also started on 29 January 2010 for a planned period of two years.

After the end of World War II, important developments in the field of industrial property, such as the Treaty of Rome of 1957, Patent Cooperation Treaty of 1970 and the European Patent Convention of 1973 caused the nature of the firm's business activities to change.