CIP and PCT

[ba-patagent]

Hello All,

I have a client who has a CIP filed in 2006 (priority date in 2003). They have foriegn filed in 3 countries in 2004.
Now they want to file a PCT for foreign protection in many other countries. What is the earliest priority date that they can make use of for PCT filing? To my knowledge they cannot claim priority to any of the earlier filed applications. Is there a way for them to protect their invention in other foreign countries or have they missed the boat ?

Thanks in advance.

ba-patagent

[alconada]

IMHO,

Priority can only be claimed from the first application for a given subject-matter. That would be in the present case the 2003 application. So the answer would be that yes, they have missed the boat.

However, if the CIP filed in 2006 contains subject-matter which was not present in the previous application, it would still be possible to claim priority for this particular subject-matter in a PCT application filed within a year of filing the CIP.