What are the inventorship requirements for claiming foreign priority?

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.

The inventorship requirements for claiming foreign priority are specific and important. Here are the key points:

• The U.S. and foreign applications must name the same inventor or have at least one joint inventor in common.
• Priority rights do not exist if the foreign and U.S. applications have completely different sole inventors.
• Joint inventors can each claim the benefit of their separately filed foreign applications.

The MPEP clarifies: Consistent with longstanding Office policy, this is interpreted to mean that the U.S. and foreign applications must name the same inventor or have at least one joint inventor in common. This requirement ensures a direct connection between the foreign priority application and the U.S. application claiming its benefit.