Priority dates

Posted by Anonymous . updated on 2/26/2009

I wish to clarify a few things about priority dates of PCT patent Applications.

I was wondering whether national patents filed through a PCT route will all have the same priority date or the dates could be different.

For example, (XYZ) have filed a PCT patent on some day of some month in 2000 and after the international search report and after the Preliminary examination, he wishes to go for National Filings.

(XYZ)goes for National Patent in Brazil, Canada, EP, Mexico, South Africa etc.

So does (XYZ) get the same priority number and the same priority date for all the Patent Applications as 2000(month)_(day).Or could he expect some difference in the priority date?

Any exceptions as per the country law(Particularly South Africa)?

Any comments are welcome.

Rahul Vartak

Answer this Question

RSS this Question

Answers (6)

priority dates


JimIvey	While I don't have the exact rule in front of me, I believe the answer is that they will all have the same priority date -- assuming that all are members of the PCT. I don't know what a priority number is, so I can't answer that part. I don't know much about the specific patent laws of South Africa. I hope my partial answer is helpful. Regards.


rahulva...	br> Thanks for the information.It has definatel been helpful clearing the general concept about PCT priority dates. It is very much in accordance with my views. I was wondering whether anyone has any idea about the laws in south Africa. Is it mandatory for the south African Patent filed through PCT to have the same priority date or it could have a different Date. In case The ZA Patent has the same title , same inventors , same applicants but does have a diferent priority date, would it be considered as a new Application? Regards, Rahul Vartak.


eric st...	Quote Hi Jim. Thanks for the information.It has definatel been helpful clearing the general concept about PCT priority dates. It is very much in accordance with my views. I was wondering whether anyone has any idea about the laws in south Africa. Is it mandatory for the south African Patent filed through PCT to have the same priority date or it could have a different Date. In case The ZA Patent has the same title , ?same inventors , same applicants but does have a diferent priority date, would it be considered as a new Application? Regards, Rahul Vartak. Mr. Vartak, This can get a little confusing. Priority derives from the Paris Convention. The PCT, or Patent Cooperation Treaty, is an administrative procedure for claiming the priority afforded by the Paris Convention. Let's say that I want to file a patent in the Republic of China claiming priority to a US application. Taiwan is not a member of the PCT (although the other China is) but it is a member of the Paris Convention. If I want to obtain a patent in the Republic of China claiming priority to the US application, I have to file a national application in Taiwan within the priority year afforded by the Paris Convention and claim priority to the US application. If I wanted to obtain a patent on the same invention in the People's Republic of China, I could either file a national application with SIPO (again within the priority year) or I could file a PCT application with the USPTO designating the PRC. The PCT application preserves the priority date even though it may be years before a national application is registered in the PRC. It is not mandatory as far as I know that once a PCT application is filed that you MUST enter the national stage through the PCT, but if you don't you will not be able to claim the priority date of the PCT application. Say for example, that I file a PCT application designating ZA (South Africa), but after so doing I decide that I need to get a patent issued more quickly so I go ahead and file a national application directly in South Africa. If this is done within the prioroty year, then both the PCT route and the national route would result in a same patent with the same priority date. (I would then abandon the PCT application for ZA.) But what if the priority year has passed? I can't file a PCT application, but - If the appliction has not been published, or otherwise made public - I can still file a national application in South Africa, but I cannot claim the earlier filing date. Thus, I will have an identical patent as one issued in another country, but with a different filing/priority date. It happens all the time. I hope I have this right. The PCT is unforgiving and I am not an expert on all of the complexities so I encourage you to seek the advice of a qualified attorney with whom you can share the details of your case. Hope this helps, eric stasik


JimIvey	Quote In case The ZA Patent has the same title , same inventors , same applicants but does have a diferent priority date, would it be considered as a new Application? I think Mr. Stasik gave you a fairly complete answer. I'll just emphasize that the only way that I can think of to have a different priority date in the ZA application relative to an earlier PCT application is to not explicitly link the two. In that situation, it would be a different application. In general, national applications based on PCT applications include some explicit linking between the two. So, whether the two applications share the same priority date should be rather clear on the face of the relevant documents. Regards.


rahulva...	and Eric, Thanks for the information. "national applications based on PCT applications include some explicit linking between the two" was what I was looking for and I could not find the link. Hence the query. Things are much more clear now. I feel that the query has been completely answered leaving no doubts in my mind. Thanks again. Rahul Vartak.


eric st...	You wrote (partially quoting Mr. Ivey): "national applications based on PCT applications include some explicit linking between the two" was what I was looking for and I could not find the link. " PCT information is printed - and all other prior co-pending applications that the applicant wishes to "link" the patent to - are usually prominently printed on the front page of the issued patent. Here is am example of a recently issued US patent which claims priority to an application first filed in Germany, and that entered the USPTO via the PCT: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6,785,883.WKU.&OS=PN/6,785,883&RS=PN/6,785,883 The German application and filing date, as well as the PCT application number, PCT publication number, and corresponding dates are printed right on the front page. You will see the same information in EP patents. If you don't see this, there probably isn't any link - but you should check the prosecution history just to make sure the patent office didn't make a printing mistake - it happens. Cheers, eric stasik

Page 1 of 1

Previous question: Can anyone help me >>

Next question: Auslander/Frozen Out >>

Why Patent Express?

Patent Express is the fastest and easiest way for an individual inventor to file a U.S. Patent or Trademark Application.
Patent Express fills the gap for those who cannot afford a U.S. patent attorney or agent, but want to have their patent drafted and issued.
Patent Express is backed by a 100% money back guarantee.

Patent Express Services

Provisional Patent Application
Standard Package - $159 only
Utility Patent Application
Standard Package - $499 only
Trademark Application
Standard Package - $159 only

PatentExpress.com is a website of Raj Abhyanker, a professional U.S. Patent Law firm, see: www.rajpatent.com for more. All non-do-it-yourself related services advertised on this site are supervised and managed by a U.S. patent attorney.

© PatentExpress.com All rights reserved. Disclaimer: The information provided in this site is not legal advice, but general information on legal issues commonly encountered. Please note that your access to and use of PatentExpress.com is subject to additional terms and conditions. 02-07-2012