How to determine the "priority date" of patent application?

The priority of patent application can be divided into foreign priority of foreign-related patent application and domestic priority of domestic patent application. The former means that when the same patent applicant applies for a patent in different countries for the same invention-creation, he can take the patent application date of the first applicant country as the priority date, and after the request, each applicant country will take the priority date as the patent application date in the applicant country within a certain period of time. "A certain period" is also often called "priority period".

Article 29 of the Patent Law stipulates: "An applicant who applies for a patent for invention or utility model in China within 12 months from the date of first applying for a patent in a foreign country, or within 6 months from the date of first applying for a patent for design in a foreign country, may enjoy the priority according to the agreement signed between the foreign country and China or the international treaties to which both countries are parties, or according to the principle of mutual recognition of priority." That is to say, in China, the priority period of an application for a patent for invention or utility model is 1 year, while the priority period of a design is half a year. Most countries have the same priority period as China. The latter, the domestic priority of domestic patent application, means that the same patent applicant can enjoy the priority if he files a patent application on the same subject with the patent administration department of the State Council within 12 months from the date when he first filed an application for a patent for invention or utility model in China. That is to say, the date of filing the patent application for the first time can be taken as the date of filing the domestic patent application for the same subject later.

In China, the above priorities must be as follows:

1, and a written statement requesting priority when filing a patent application;

2. Submit a copy of the first patent application document to the China National Intellectual Property Administration Patent Office within 3 months;

3. The patent application filed for the first time is in a foreign country, and the foreign country and China * * * have joined relevant international treaties or signed relevant bilateral agreements or the principle of mutual recognition and reciprocity. The copy of the first patent application document submitted by the patent applicant shall be certified by the patent acceptance authority of that country.