The principle of priority is one of the three principles established in the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property signed by 1883. It means that an applicant who formally filed an invention patent, utility model patent, design patent or trademark registration in a member country of the Paris Convention enjoys priority within the prescribed time limit when other member countries file the same application.
The priority period is: from the first application date of invention patent and utility model patent 12 months; 6 months from the date of first application for design patents and trademarks.
Its main function is that even after the first application, the applicant has enough time to consider which countries it is necessary to apply again.