§ 365. — Right of priority; benefit of the filing date of a prior application.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 35USC365]
TITLE 35--PATENTS
PART IV--PATENT COOPERATION TREATY
CHAPTER 36--INTERNATIONAL STAGE
Sec. 365. Right of priority; benefit of the filing date of a
prior application
(a) In accordance with the conditions and requirements of
subsections (a) through (d) of section 119 of this title, a national
application shall be entitled to the right of priority based on a prior
filed international application which designated at least one country
other than the United States.
(b) In accordance with the conditions and requirement of section
119(a) of this title and the treaty and the Regulations, an
international application designating the United States shall be
entitled to the right of priority based on a prior foreign application,
or a prior international application designating at least one country
other than the United States.
(c) In accordance with the conditions and requirements of section
120 of this title, an international application designating the United
States shall be entitled to the benefit of the filing date of a prior
national application or a prior international application designating
the United States, and a national application shall be entitled to the
benefit of the filing date of a prior international application
designating the United States. If any claim for the benefit of an
earlier filing date is based on a prior international application which
designated but did not originate in the United States, the Director may
require the filing in the Patent and Trademark Office of a certified
copy of such application together with a translation thereof into the
English language, if it was filed in another language.
(Added Pub. L. 94-131, Sec. 1, Nov. 14, 1975, 89 Stat. 686; amended Pub.
L. 98-622, title IV, Sec. 403(a), Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat. 3392; Pub. L.
103-465, title V, Sec. 532(c)(4), Dec. 8, 1994, 108 Stat. 4987; Pub. L.
106-113, div. B, Sec. 1000(a)(9) [title IV, Sec. 4732(a)(10)(A)], Nov.
29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1536, 1501A-582; Pub. L. 107-273, div. C, title III,
Sec. 13206(b)(1)(B), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1906.)
Amendments
2002--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 107-273 made technical correction to
directory language of Pub. L. 106-113. See 1999 Amendment note below.
1999--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 106-113, as amended by Pub. L. 107-273,
substituted ``Director'' for ``Commissioner''.
1994--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103-465, Sec. 532(c)(4)(A), substituted
``subsections (a) through (d) of section 119'' for ``section 119''.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 103-465, Sec. 532(c)(4)(B), substituted
``section 119(a)'' for ``the first paragraph of section 119''.
1984--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 98-622 substituted ``Patent and Trademark
Office'' for ``Patent Office''.
Effective Date of 1999 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 106-113 effective 4 months after Nov. 29, 1999,
see section 1000(a)(9) [title IV, Sec. 4731] of Pub. L. 106-113, set out
as a note under section 1 of this title.
Effective Date of 1994 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 103-465 effective 6 months after Dec. 8, 1994,
and applicable to all patent applications filed in the United States on
or after that effective date, with provisions relating to earliest filed
patent application, see section 534(b)(1), (3) of Pub. L. 103-465, set
out as a note under section 154 of this title.
Effective Date of 1984 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 98-622 effective Nov. 8, 1984, see section
406(a) of Pub. L. 98-622, set out as a note under section 351 of this
title.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 104, 111, 154, 273, 366 of
this title.
