If I file a patent for a product that I have been developing, will this give me international protection?

The short answer is no. The difficulty with answering your question is that it is not clear what you mean by "international protection". Is that world-wide protection? Protection in Europe alone? Or in countries that recognize and subscribe to an international patent application? There is no single patent application that will give you world-wide patent protection. The most comprehensive single patent application you could file would be an international patent application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). With that one PCT application you could theoretically, achieve enforceable patent rights in some 148 contracting states (countries), which covers most of the world but not all of it. For example, Taiwan is not a signatory to the PCT. The real problem with "international protection" has more to do with the prohibitive cost. Because even after you prosecute a PCT patent application internationally and have allowable claims, you must nationalize that international patent application in every contracting state you for which you wish to have protection. Recall that all patent rights are geographically limited. As a rough rule of thumb, I tell clients that whatever it costs you to get protection in the US is an approximate cost for each foreign national patent application you file. And to top it all off, you have maintenance fees, renewal fees, annuities and the like for every national patent to keep them enforceable to their full term (typically 20 years from filing date). So out of economic necessity, you have to be very selective in which countries you wish to nationalize and seek patent rights.

The answer is - It Depends. Most nations have treaties with the United States which include patent law; however, in order for a US patent to protect you, you must maintain a strong US connection. If you produce the invention in the US and ship it to Spain, your US patent should allow you to take action for infringement in the foreign country. If you make your product in Japan and ship it to Spain, you have no protection from your US patent. Also, although there is significant pressure to create a "world patent", there is no such thing as a world-wide patent. There is a treaty process known as the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) which streamlines and gives you additional time to file in individual countries, it is still not a world-wide patent. When you are looking to apply for a patent, many different time clocks start ticking, so I would advise you to consult a patent attorney or agent as soon as possible since it is possible to lose all rights to file your application when these deadlines are missed.

No. Generally each jurisdiction has its own patent system and you will need to have a patent in each of the jurisdictions you are concerned about. You can establish a priority date for a patent in a large number of countries all at once by filing a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application which can provide the right to file such patent applications.

Patents only cover the country in which they are filed. If you want international protection from patents you have to file patents in each country where you want that protection and go through the process to get a patent registration in each of those countries.

No. US patents only protect your invention in the USA. Almost every country has a patent system - and protection is local to that country. There are some groups of countries for application processing - for example the European patent office - but protection at this time is still country specific. Foreign patents are typically much more expensive than US Patents. Good Luck.

No, you will only be protected by the laws of the country in which you filed the patent.