What are the priority date rules for patents filed by former USPTO employees?

Former USPTO employees face restrictions on priority dates for patents they file after leaving the office. According to 35 U.S.C. 4:

‘In patents applied for thereafter they shall not be entitled to any priority date earlier than one year after the termination of their appointment.’

This means that for any patent application filed by a former USPTO employee, the earliest priority date they can claim is one year after their employment at the USPTO ended. This rule prevents former employees from using insider knowledge to gain an unfair advantage in the patent application process.