How can I use a foreign priority claim to overcome a 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection?

This page is an FAQ based on guidance from the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only: it is not legal advice.

To use a foreign priority claim to overcome a 35 U.S.C. 102 rejection, you need to:

1. Submit a claim to priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) within the time period set in 37 CFR 1.55
2. Identify the prior foreign application in a corrected application data sheet under 37 CFR 1.76
3. Establish that the prior foreign application satisfies the enablement and written description requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112(a)
4. Perfect the foreign priority filing date

MPEP 2152.06 states: “The foreign priority filing date must antedate the reference and be perfected. The filing date of the priority document is not perfected unless applicant has filed a certified priority document in the application (and an English language translation, if the document is not in English) (see 37 CFR 1.55(g)).”