The right of priority arises with the filing of the patent application.
This right is not strictly speaking a procedural step of the application in question, but it is important for the following patent applications that want to protect the same invention in France or in other countries.
Its existence is due to international conventions that allow a first application in France to justify effects in other countries than France.
The benefit of a priority implies at least two essential conditions:
- the priority must be claimed
- the application that wishes to benefit from a priority must be filed within 12 months from the filing of the application whose priority is claimed.
If the priority is validly claimed for a B patent application, it has the effect of making the conditions of its patentability retroactive at the date of filing of the A patent application whose priority is claimed.
The practical consequences are important. In particular, it is by this means that it is possible for an applicant to show his invention (for example to exhibit in salons, on the internet or to sell his patented products) after his first deposit A and before his second deposit B under priority, without the patent office of the country of deposit B blame him for these disclosures.
The following diagram illustrates this situation:
Ce schéma simplifié met donc en relief trois périodes :
- avant le premier dépôt = secret absolu sur l’invention
- après le premier dépôt = divulgations possibles et seconds dépôts possibles
pendant 12 mois - passé la période de 12 mois = risque majeur de destruction de la nouveauté
pour les demandes n’ayant plus le bénéfice de la priorité.
