What is the right of priority for foreign patent applications?

The right of priority allows an applicant who has filed a patent application in a foreign country to claim priority to that earlier filing date when filing a subsequent U.S. application for the same invention. This right is established by 35 U.S.C. 119 and gives the U.S. application the benefit of the earlier foreign filing date, as long as certain conditions are met.

Specifically, 35 U.S.C. 119(a) states: “An application for patent for an invention filed in this country by any person who has, or whose legal representatives or assigns have, previously regularly filed an application for a patent for the same invention in a foreign country which affords similar privileges in the case of applications filed in the United States or to citizens of the United States, or in a WTO member country, shall have the same effect as the same application would have if filed in this country on the date on which the application for patent for the same invention was first filed in such foreign country, if the application in this country is filed within 12 months from the earliest date on which such foreign application was filed.”