Article 1381. Establishing the Priority of an Invention, Utility Model or Industrial Design

1. The priority of an invention, utility model or industrial design shall be established by the date when the invention, utility model or industrial design application is filed with the federal executive governmental body charged with intellectual property matters.

2. The priority of an invention, utility model or industrial design may be established by the date when additional materials are received, if they are provided by the applicant as an independent application filed before the expiry of three months after the applicant's receipt of a notice from the federal executive governmental body charged with intellectual property matters stating that additional materials could not be taken into account because they were deemed to change the essence of the solution declared, unless as of the date of filing of the independent application the application containing the said additional materials has been withdrawn or deemed withdrawn.

3. The priority of an invention, utility model or industrial design may be established by the date when the same applicant filed with the federal executive governmental body charged with intellectual property matters an earlier application disclosing the invention, utility model or industrial design, unless the earlier application has been withdrawn or deemed withdrawn as of the date of filing of the application whereby the priority is sought, provided the application whereby the priority is sought was filed within 12 months after the filing of the earlier application concerning the invention, or six months after the filing of the earlier application concerning the utility model or industrial design. Once an application seeking priority is filed the earlier application shall be deemed withdrawn. Priority shall not be established by the date of filing of an application whereby an earlier priority has been sought.

4. The priority of an invention, utility model or industrial design under a divisional application shall be established by the date when the same applicant filed with the federal executive governmental body charged with intellectual property matters his/its initial application disclosing the invention, utility model or industrial design or if a right exists to establish an earlier priority, by the initial application by the date of that priority, unless the initial invention, utility model or industrial design application had not been withdrawn or deemed withdrawn, provided the divisional application had been filed before the completion of the appeal envisaged by the present Code against the decision on refusing to issue a patent under the initial application or the date of registration of the invention, utility model or industrial design if a decision on issuing a patent was taken on the initial application.

5. The priority of an invention, utility model or industrial design may be established on the basis of several applications filed earlier or of additional materials to such applications, given the observance of the conditions set out in Items 2, 3 and 4 of the present article and Article 1382 of the present Code respectively.