The principle of priority in the Paris Convention means that an applicant who has formally filed an invention patent, utility model patent, design patent or trademark registration in one member country enjoys priority within the prescribed time limit when other member countries file the same application. Before the expiration of the prescribed time limit for priority application, any subsequent application filed in other member States of this Convention shall not be bound by any behavior made by others during this period. In particular, another application, the publication or illegal exploitation of an invention, the sale of a copy of a design or the use of a trademark will become invalid. In addition, this kind of behavior cannot constitute the right of any third party or the right occupied by any individual. However, the rights obtained by a third party as the basis of priority before the date of initial application shall be preserved according to the domestic legislation of each member of this Convention.

In other words, the same application made to others during the priority period cannot be granted industrial property rights. Industrial property rights are granted to priority persons.

The principle of priority is very important for industrial property owners who have obtained industrial property rights in their own countries and then need to register abroad. If there is no priority, they must apply in several countries at home and abroad at the same time, otherwise, the latter application may not be protected.

(2) The scope of application of the priority principle.

The priority in the Paris Convention does not apply to all industrial property rights referred to in the Convention, but only to invention patents, utility models, designs and trademarks, not to trade names, goodwill and names of origin.

As for service trademarks, Article 6 of the Convention stipulates that each member state shall protect service trademarks, but it shall not be required to stipulate the registration of such trademarks. This provision shows that the convention does not regard the registration of service trademarks as a mandatory requirement in the domestic laws of member States. Member States may or may not provide registration protection for service trademarks. When providing registration protection, it has the right to decide to apply the principle of priority to service trademarks.

(3) the scope of priority applicants.

According to the Convention, an applicant who has formally filed an invention patent, utility model, design or trademark registration in a member country or his successor in rights shall enjoy priority when filing the same application in other member countries of the Convention within the prescribed time limit.

As can be seen from the above, there are two kinds of priority applicants: those who apply for industrial property rights and their heirs.

(4) Prerequisites for applying for priority.

The prerequisite for claiming priority is that an application has been formally filed in a member state. The so-called normal domestic application refers to all applications in the country where the application date can be determined, regardless of the application result. Any application that belongs to a normal country according to the domestic law of any member state or the provisions of bilateral or multilateral treaties signed between member States.

(5) Time limit for applying for priority.

The priority application period for invention patents and utility models is 12 months, while the priority application period for designs and trademarks is 6 months. The above-mentioned time limit is counted from the date of the first application, and the date of the application is not counted in the time limit. If the last day of the deadline is a legal holiday in the requested country, or the competent authority fails to file an application on that day, the deadline shall be extended to the first working day thereafter.

When an application with the same content as the first application is filed in the same country in the future, if the previous application has been withdrawn, abandoned or rejected, has not been provided to the public for review, has not left any pending rights, and has not become the basis for claiming priority, the latter application shall be regarded as the first application. The date of filing shall be regarded as the starting date of the priority period, and the earlier application cannot be used as the basis for claiming priority.

If the application for design is filed in a country according to the priority based on the application for utility model, the priority period shall be the same as that stipulated by the design; It is also allowed to file a utility model application in a country according to the priority of the invention patent application, and vice versa. The time limit of the priority application shall be subject to the time limit of the application.

(6) Documents to be submitted when applying for priority.

To apply for priority, the following documents shall be submitted in turn:

Declaration of application for priority.

Where a prior application for priority is required, the date of application and the requested country shall be stated;

Copy of previous application.

Member States may require the person who puts forward the priority to submit a copy of the previous application (instructions and drawings, etc.). ). The copy should be verified by the original applicant's office without any other proof. Member States may also require copies to be accompanied by certificates and translations issued by the original applicant's office to prove the date of application.

In addition to the above procedures, the requested State shall not require the applicant to go through any other formalities related to the declaration of priority.

(7) One or more priority applications.

According to the Convention, no member state may refuse a priority or patent application on the grounds that the applicant claims multiple priorities. Even if they claim one or more priorities in different countries, one or more of them are not included in the original application on which the priority is based, as long as the above two situations are part of the invention in the sense of the law of that country. The part not included in the original application on which the priority is based shall be followed.

If it is found in the examination that an application for a patent contains more than one invention, the applicant may divide the application into several parts, and the original filing date shall still be regarded as the filing date of each part, and the priority shall be maintained. The applicant can also take the initiative to file a patent application separately, and take the initial filing date as the filing date of each part. And maintain priority. Each member state has the right to decide the conditions of this separation. As long as these parts are clearly stated in the overall application documents, member States shall not refuse to give priority to the invention for some parts not included in the application filed by the country where the invention belongs.

(8) Certificate and priority.

In countries where the applicant has the right to choose to apply for a patent certificate or an inventor certificate, the applicant for an inventor certificate also enjoys priority.