What happens if the priority document is not furnished in a PCT application?
If the priority document is not furnished in a PCT application, it can have serious consequences for the patent application. According to MPEP 1870:
“If that copy is not furnished to the International Preliminary Examining Authority because the applicant failed to comply with the requirements of Rule 17.1, and if that earlier application was not filed with that Authority in its capacity as a national Office or the priority document is not available to that Authority from a digital library in accordance with the Administrative Instructions, the international preliminary examination report may be established as if the priority had not been claimed.”
In other words, if the applicant fails to provide the priority document, the examiner may proceed as if no priority claim was made, potentially affecting the application’s priority date and the assessment of novelty and inventive step.
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