<img width="1" height="1" src='https://gcfagjf.r.af.d.sendibt2.com/tr/op/pxiCE1B_hB3XmjCBnNE11odhH3ZaD1If37WPYSIcWLE82Ml68XEPF7CZXXJQvSpjQW3eC0VT85SSThZFDBeSchPl3E53IEYMWlU8rfsDxT6FBDs_XhzpZjmLG0iMGS7ryK_MVOjYm7Pw7qPwTO0ZRwiesUoTDrM8282RsdLn3MgfJSEBovDHVag89lLHEaqhj-IfVu5l3VUvyQ-in7Bj79JAtl7Davv6dize' /><div dir="ltr"><div>Applicant filed first application in Israel, and plans to file in the US and only in the US claiming priority from the Israel application. </div><div><br></div><div>Israel is an 18-month-from-earliest-priority-publication country, so this set of facts would preclude filing a non-publication request at the USPTO.</div><div><br></div><div>But what if the applicant abandons its Israel application before publication? In that circumstance, can the applicant properly make a non-pub request in the US case?</div><div><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><br></span></font></div><div><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">The way 35 USC 122 is worded, the answer seems to be no:<br></span></font></div><div><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><br></span></font></div><div style="margin-left:40px"><font size="2"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">122(b)(B))(i) <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-style:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;word-spacing:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline;float:none"><span></span>If an applicant makes a request upon filing, certifying that the invention disclosed in the application has not and will not be the subject of an application filed in another country, or under a multilateral international agreement, that requires publication of applications 18 months after filing, the application shall not be published as provided in paragraph (1).</span>
</span></font> </div><div><div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><span><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div>I think the straightforward reading of that paragraph is that it's not a question of whether or not the application filed abroad actually publishes, but whether or not the law in the country where the application was filed provides 18-month publication of applications. And Israel certainly fits that bill.<br></div><div><br></div><div>I suppose one could take the position that the country in question doesn't <i>require </i>publication of applications at 18 months unless those applications are still pending, and therefore the invention disclosed was not "the subject of an application filed in another country...that requires publication of applications 18 months after filing" since the foreign application was abandoned. </div><div><br></div><div>But I wouldn't want to be the guinea pig to find out what the PTO or the courts say about it. And making a non-pub request in an application that claims foreign priority from an application filed in an 18-month publication country is begging the PTO to call out the filer on this.<br></div><div><br></div>Dan</div></div></div></span></div></div></div></div></div></div>