The priority year is a well-known and well-used feature of the
patent system. In short, the priority year provides applicants with
12 months from the filing of an initial patent application, within
which to file additional patent applications to the same invention
in other countries or jurisdictions. This allows applicants to
'plant a flag in the sand' for their invention, while
deferring the costs associated with multiple filings.
A further benefit is that the search report issued in respect of
the initial priority application can generally be used to inform
decision-making regarding additional filings to the same invention.
For example, a positive search report may give an applicant
confidence to proceed with an 'international' PCT
application, whereas an applicant may choose to follow a more
conservative filing approach in a small number of key territories
(or not file at all!) if the search report cites potentially
problematic documents.
