[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 37, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 1999]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 37CFR1.55]

[Page 39]
 
             TITLE 37--PATENTS, TRADEMARKS, AND COPYRIGHTS
 
    CHAPTER I--PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
 
PART 1--RULES OF PRACTICE IN PATENT CASES--Table of Contents
 
                Subpart B--National Processing Provisions
 
Sec. 1.55  Claim for foreign priority.

    (a) An applicant in a nonprovisional application may claim the 
benefit of the filing date of one or more prior foreign applications 
under the conditions specified in 35 U.S.C. 119 (a) through (d) and 172. 
The claim to priority need be in no special form and may be made by the 
attorney or agent if the foreign application is referred to in the oath 
or declaration as required by Sec. 1.63. The claim for priority and the 
certified copy of the foreign application specified in 35 U.S.C. 119(b) 
must be filed in the case of an interference (Sec. 1.630), when 
necessary to overcome the date of a reference relied upon by the 
examiner, when specifically required by the examiner, and in all other 
situations, before the patent is granted. If the claim for priority or 
the certified copy of the foreign application is filed after the date 
the issue fee is paid, it must be accompanied by a petition requesting 
entry and by the fee set forth in Sec. 1.17(i). If the certified copy is 
not in the English language, a translation need not be filed except in 
the case of interference; or when necessary to overcome the date of a 
reference relied upon by the examiner; or when specifically required by 
the examiner, in which event an English language translation must be 
filed together with a statement that the translation of the certified 
copy is accurate.
    (b) An applicant in a nonprovisional application may under certain 
circumstances claim priority on the basis of one or more applications 
for an inventor's certificate in a country granting both inventor's 
certificates and patents. To claim the right of priority on the basis of 
an application for an inventor's certificate in such a country under 35 
U.S.C. 119(d), the applicant when submitting a claim for such right as 
specified in paragraph (a) of this section, shall include an affidavit 
or declaration. The affidavit or declaration must include a specific 
statement that, upon an investigation, he or she is satisfied that to 
the best of his or her knowledge, the applicant, when filing the 
application for the inventor's certificate, had the option to file an 
application for either a patent or an inventor's certificate as to the 
subject matter of the identified claim or claims forming the basis for 
the claim of priority.

[60 FR 20224, Apr. 25, 1995, as amended at 62 FR 53188, Oct. 10, 1997]