If you’re preparing for a patent’s application, you likely have many questions. How should you plan to present your ideas? Do you need a working prototype? What information must you include? There are countless factors that go into the process of determining whether or not to file a patent, which is why it’s important that you get experienced help when determining if your invention is valuable enough to warrant the time and cost of registering.

What is the priority date

The priority date is the date on which an inventor’s application for a patent is filed. The priority date determines the order in which applications are considered for examination. For example, if two patent applications have been filed on the same day, but one application has a priority date of one year earlier than the other, then that application will be examined first.

If you submitted your patent application electronically using IP Australia’s online filing system or by post, you can check your priority date by logging into My IP Australia and selecting ‘Patents’. Then select ‘View/Amend’ under your patent number to view information about your patent application.

The ‘Date Received’ field indicates when your application was received by IP Australia and entered into our system. This is usually within one week of being sent from us; however, this does not mean that we have accepted your application for examination at this stage. If you submit an amendment after receiving notice from us that we require additional information from you before examining your application.

The priority date of the claimed invention, if any

Priority date is the date when an inventor files a patent application in one country (e.g., the United States) that claims an earlier invention than any other country (e.g., Australia). An inventor’s priority date is the earliest of those countries in which he or she has filed for a patent application, provided that such filing has been made within 12 months from the first filing in any other country.

Once a patent application has been published, the applicant can claim priority to only one country and cannot change his or her choice later on. The European Patent Office also recognizes publication as equivalent to filing, which means that an inventor can file for a European patent application at any time after his or her first publication of his or her invention.

A general description of the claimed invention in English

In the case of a patent application for an invention, the specification must contain a detailed and complete disclosure of the invention in such full, clear, concise and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same.

The claims define the scope of protection provided by the patent. They are drafted by the applicant to include all features that distinguish their invention from prior art. The claims must be clear and concise; they should contain only those features necessary to define what is unique about your invention.

 “Convention” priority date

The convention priority date is the date of filing of the first national application (the one that uses the PCT application as its basis). In Australia, this is called the “convention” priority date. It is the date that counts for purposes of calculating when a patent expires and for determining whether prior art should be considered in assessing validity.

The convention priority date is calculated by adding six months to the priority date set out in the search report prepared by an international search authority. The six-month grace period is provided for in Article 8(1) of the Paris Convention as amended by the Protocol.

Paris Convention priority date

The Paris Convention priority date is a critical date for patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty. The Paris Convention priority date is a critical date for patent applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

The PCT is an international treaty that allows applicants to file a single application that will be examined by each of the member states of the PCT, and then by any state that accepts the application.

The Paris Convention priority date is also important for applicants who wish to file in multiple countries at once. The Paris Convention priority date serves as a deadline for when an applicant must file in other countries within one year from the filing date of their first-filed PCT application in order to receive priority rights in those countries.

The Paris Convention priority date guarantees that an applicant’s claims cannot be amended after this deadline without losing their right to claim priority over other applications filed in other countries.

If you’re planning on filing several patent applications at once or would like to extend your rights into other countries, it’s important to understand how the Paris Convention works and what its limitations are. First, let’s take a closer look at what exactly this convention entails and how it affects your patent applications.

Conclusion

The priority date is not counted from the time that you apply, but from the time that you had your first real invention that all of the claims in the patent application cover. If you apply with a dependent or master patent application and it gets rejected or withdrawn then the priority date for all further applications with that same real invention will be satisfied, however if your new application does not contain all of the claims then it will have a new priority date as well.