Editing Priority right (section)

== Rationale ==

According to the [[European Patent Office]], "basic purpose [of the right of priority] is to safeguard, for a limited period, the interests of a patent applicant in his endeavour to obtain international protection for his invention, thereby alleviating the negative consequences of the principle of territoriality in patent law."<ref>[https://www.epo.org/law-practice/case-law-appeals/recent/t010015ep1.html Decision T 15/01 of June 17, 2004 of the Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office.] See also [http://www.epo.org/law-practice/case-law-appeals/recent/t110577eu1.html Decision T 577/11 of 14 April 2016], Reasons 6.5.3, 5th paragraph: "The creation of the right of priority was aimed at protecting the rights of the applicant of a first application for an invention in all countries of the Paris Union by securing the filing date as the effective date for the definition of the state of the art. This was to enable the applicant to decide, within a certain period, in which other countries protection should be sought in respect of the same invention and to prepare for such subsequent filings which, in the absence of a centralised filing system, were still required at that time. In the event of such subsequent filings, other applications or disclosures occurring in the priority period were to have no negative effect as regards the patentability of the invention (see Article 4B Paris Convention)."</ref>