The priority right

The priority right of the applicant shall begin with the filing of the application.

The applicant shall claim the right of priority under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (hereinafter “Paris Convention”) already on filing the application and, at the same time, state the filing date of the application from which the right of priority derives, its number and the state in which the application has been filed or the authority with which the application has been filed under the international treaty. At the request of the Office, the applicant must furnish evidence of this right within the stated time limit, failing which the priority right shall not be taken into consideration.

In case of the conversion of the European patent application, in which the protection for the Czech Republic was requested, into the application, the applicant may claim his right of priority from the European patent application.

If the applicant has already sought in the Czech Republic a patent for the same technical solution, he shall be entitled to request in his application the recognition of the filing date of such application or any right of priority deriving therefrom. The Office shall afford the application for utility model protection the date of filing or of priority of the earlier patent application if the later application is filed within two months of the decision on the patent application and, at the latest however, within 10 years of its filing date. An applicant claiming rights shall be required – within a period of two months from filing the application for utility model protection – to submit a duplicate of the patent application the filing or priority date of which is claimed, failing which the right shall lapse.