benefit of an earlier filing date
benefit of an earlier filing date. Patents & trademarks. For a patent or trademark applicant, the advantage of being assigned the filing date of a related, earlier-filed application. • Under 35 USCA § 119: (1) a U.S. patent application is given the filing date of an earlier foreign application filed in accordance with the Paris Convention as long as the U.S. filing occurs not more than one year after the foreign filing; and (2) a continuing application filed in accordance with 35 USCA § 120 is given the filing date of an earlier-filed U.S. application. Similarly, under 15 USCA § 1126(d), a U.S. trademark applicant receives the filing date of an earlier-filed foreign application if: (1) the foreign application was filed in a Paris Convention country; and (2) the U.S. application is filed within six months after the foreign application. — Also termed benefit of priority filing date; claim of priority. [Cases: Patents 110. C.J.S. Patents § 156.]
