The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO) are set to launch a new free service that will simplify filing procedures in each others offices by allowing patent application priority documents to be exchanged between the two offices electronically. Filing of priority documents is required when applicants are claiming an earlier application filing date in one patent office based on a prior application filing in another. Claiming priority is a valuable tool for businesses investigating whether to pursue patent rights globally because it provides additional time for making a decision as to whether and how extensively to pursue worldwide protection. Under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, a patent applicant may file an application in one Paris Convention member country (the priority document), and within 12 months, file corresponding applications in other member countries, while obtaining the benefit of the first application's filing date. Paris Convention filings are a critical component in many applicants' global business and patenting strategies and represent a substantial portion of worldwide patent activity. It is expected that as a result of this agreement, substantial benefits of reduced expenses and paperwork will ensue when filing a Paris Convention application in the EPO. Other treaties also provide for foreign application rights. For example, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) can effectively defer the decision of whether and in which countries to file a patent application up to 2 ½ years from the original priority document filing date.
Vol. 53, June 2010