The Paris Convention and Priority

1The International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property was signed in Paris in 1883. The Convention enshrines the principle of 'national treatment' and reciprocity by requiring one member country to afford to the nationals of another the same protection it affords to its own nationals. (Paris Convention 1883, art 2.) It also introduced, for the first time, a method of claiming priority for applications made in a foreign country. Article 4 provides that where an application for patent has been made in one convention country and corresponding applications are made in other convention countries within 12 months from the date of first filing, the subsequent applications will be entitled to the priority date of the first application. These principles are contained in ch XXII of the Patents Act 1970. (Patents (Amendment) Act 2005, ss 133 to 139.) India signed the Paris Convention in 1998.