Priority / Priority right

The term priority is used several times in the field of intellectual property rights. In general, priority designates the seniority of the property right, i.e. in the case of patents, for example, it draws the line between prior publications, which must be taken into account as prior art, and later publications, the contents of which are not taken into account when examining the protectability of the invention.

Furthermore, priority is understood to mean the right to claim the seniority of a first application for (foreign) subsequent applications within certain time limits (12 months for patents, 6 months for trademarks). The subsequent applications are then treated with regard to their seniority as if they had been filed at the time of the first application.

Deadlines and formalities must be observed for the effective claiming of a priority. For example, priority can only be claimed by the applicant of the first application or his successor in title. The missing or formally incorrect transfer of the right of priority to e.g. another company which wants to base subsequent applications on a first application of an external inventor can lead to the loss of the right of priority.