<div dir="ltr">
<p><span><span> </span></span>A couple questions recently reflect a lack of clear understanding of the similarities and differences between three different things. From time to time, I post this table (and I ask Carl and Rick N to look at it closely and debug it if there's anything wrong). Here is the February 2024 reminder (with a few updates).</p><p>U.S. § 120 benefit is a completely
different thing than Paris Convention Art. 4 priority. And § 371
national phase entry is a third entirely different thing from either. They serve
different purposes, and the public policy tradeoffs are different. <span>That
leads to rules that are completely different. It isn't a difference of
degree; it's conceptual and cultural incompatibility. The things that
matter are completely different</span>.<span> </span>They are as
different as written description vs. enablement—you cannot transfer what
you know about one to the context of the other<span>:</span>
</p>
<table style="width:9in;border-collapse:collapse" width="864" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:solid;border-width:1.5pt 1pt 1.5pt 1.5pt;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p style="text-align:center" align="center">
<b>Benefit under U.S. § 120 (either U.S.-to-U.S. or a US-to-PCT bypass)</b>
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:solid solid solid none;border-width:1.5pt 1pt 1.5pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p style="text-align:center" align="center">
<b>Priority under Paris Convention Art. 4</b>
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:solid solid solid none;border-width:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p style="text-align:center" align="center">
<b>U.S. National Phase entry (not a new application) under § 371 (non-bypass)</b>
</p>
<p>
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
Continuity of pendency. That can last up to 20 years.
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid none;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
Twelve months from the earliest application (Art. 4(C)(2), with the
qualifications of Art. 4(C)(4)), “whatever may be the subsequent fate
of the application” (Art. 4(A)(3)). Copendency is irrelevant.
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid none;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
Within 30 months of the earliest priority date.
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
Continuity of inventorship, overlap of at least one inventor. Continuity of applicant or assignee is irrelevant.
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid none;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
Continuity of applicant (same applicant or successor in title) (Art. 4(A)(1)). Continuity of inventorship is irrelevant.
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid none;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
Continuity of applicant for any Paris Convention claims during the
first year, and continuity of inventorship from PCT international phase
to U.S. national phase.
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
Continuity of disclosure.
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid none;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
Essentially similar, subject to the daughter jurisdiction's analogs
of U.S. § 112(a) written description and enablement (which tend to be
stricter than U.S. law)
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid none;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
A § 371 national phase entry is <strong>not</strong> a new application; it is a new serial number for the <strong>same</strong> application. § 363. Because the § 371 <em><b>is</b></em> the PCT application, this is satisfied trivially.
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
Continuity of priority claim, including requirement of an ADS.
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid none;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
Essentially the same substantively; procedure differs depending on the procedural law of the daughter jurisdiction.
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid none;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
Same as for U.S. § 111(a).
</p>
<p>
Because the § 371 <em><b>is</b></em> the PCT application, this is satisfied trivially.
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
Day one filing requirements are the same as for a new application:
specification and drawings (which may be satisfied by “filing by
reference” under 37 C.F.R. § 1.57(a)), plus, in due course,
oath/declaration, fees, ADS, etc.
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid none;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
Day one filing requirements are essentially similar to column 1, plus (in due course) certified copy
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid none;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
A § 371 national phase entry is more analogous to an RCE than to a new filing.<span> </span>All that’s required is a paper that identifies the PCT application, and pay the base national phase fee.<span> </span>Optionally, you can pay the search fee and the exam fee, and include an Application Data Sheet.
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
No requirement for certified copy if the parent is either a U.S.
application, or a PCT filed in RO/US. If this is a PCT bypass claiming
priority to a non-RO/US application, certified copy required.
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid none;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
Proactive obligation to file a certified copy within three months,
even if the daughter jurisdiction hasn’t asked for it (Art. 4(D)(3)).
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid none;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
Each parent follows its own rules. For example, for a U.S. benefit
parent, or a PCT RO/US parent, you don't need a certified copy. For a
non-US-national priority application or a PCT application not filed in
RO/US, you have a proactive obligation to file certified copy within
four months of U.S. national phase entry, or sixteen months from the
“prior foreign application,” even if the U.S. doesn’t ask for it. 37
C.F.R. § 1.55(f)(2)
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
A daughter application can only claim § 120 benefit from a U.S.
application, or a PCT application designating the United States.
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid none;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
The parent application must be “equivalent to a regular national
filing under the domestic legislation of any country” but it must be an
“other country” (Art. 4(A)(1) and (3)). No same-country priority claims
under the Paris Convention.
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid none;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
A U.S. § 371 national phase entry <em><b>is</b> </em>the PCT application (just with a new serial number), and retains exactly the same priority claims as the PCT application.
</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="width:9in;border-collapse:collapse" width="864" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
To serve as a parent to support a subsequent benefit claim, the
parent must have all filing requirements completed, including payment of
fees. E.g., § 119(e)(2).
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid none;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
"Any filing that is equivalent to a regular national filing" as of
its filing date may support a subsequent Paris Convention claim,
"whatever may be the subsequent fate of the application" Art. 4(A)(2)
and (3). To remove an earlier application as a one-year bar, it must be
affirmatively abandoned before the next application in the chain is
filed. Art. 4(C)(4).
</p>
<p>
A provisional for which fees were never paid can serve as basis for
a Paris Convention claim in any country other than the U.S.
</p>
</td>
<td style="width:2in;border-color:currentcolor;border-style:none solid solid none;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;padding:0in 5.75pt" width="192">
<p>
A provisional for which fees were never paid cannot serve as basis for a subsequent benefit claim in the U.S.
</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
</p>
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