How can an applicant claim the benefit of an international application’s filing date?

To claim the benefit of an international application’s filing date, the following conditions must be met according to MPEP 211.01(c):

• The international application must designate the United States
• The international application must be entitled to a filing date in accordance with PCT Article 11
• The later-filed application must be filed during the pendency of the international application (i.e., prior to its abandonment)

The MPEP states:

To claim the benefit of the filing date of an international application, the international application must designate the United States and be entitled to a filing date in accordance with PCT Article 11, and the later-filed application must be filed during the pendency (e.g., prior to the abandonment) of the international application.

This provision is based on 35 U.S.C. 365(c), which allows national applications to benefit from prior international applications designating the United States, subject to the conditions of 35 U.S.C. 120.

To learn more:

• international application
• filing date
• benefit claim
• PCT
• US designation