The Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement, administered by the World Trade Organization, ensures the smooth functioning of the international patent system. It promises among other things that local and foreign firms are treated in the same, nondiscriminatory manner. We test for whether the national treatment principle has been upheld in the five largest patent offices and document the existence of a systematic bias against foreign firms in patent examination decisions. We find that filing international patent applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty can reduce some of the bias.

中文翻译：

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在与贸易有关的知识产权协议中，外国人是否受到平等对待？

由世界贸易组织管理的与贸易有关的知识产权协议，确保国际专利制度的顺利运行。它保证除其他外，本地公司和外国公司将受到同样的对待。我们测试五个最大的专利局是否都坚持国民待遇原则，并记录在专利审查决定中是否存在对外国公司的系统性偏见。我们发现，根据《专利合作条约》提交国际专利申请可以减少某些偏见。