‘Self-collision’ of European patent applications under the European Patent Convention: what about partial priority?

Abstract

Priority is a key tool in the patenting process under the European Patent Convention (EPC). An applicant who has filed a national patent application (the ‘first application’) obtains, under Articles 87 and 88 EPC, the right to file a European patent application with respect to the same invention within the priority year from the date of the national filing. The filing date of such European patent application, according to Article 89 EPC, is the filing date of the national application. The priority right allows the patentee to benefit from an earlier filing date, but may introduce unexpected complications when the applicant pursues two or more European patent applications that share the priority invention.