(88) Notice of Right to Claim Priority Based Upon
Applications Previously Filed in Thailand
As a result of an exchange of letters between the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office and the Department of Intellectual Property of Thailand,
the following benefits for U.S. applicants in Thailand have become
available:
Patent applications filed in the United States may serve as the basis
for the right of priority in Thailand if a subsequent application is
filed in Thailand on or after January 1, 1996. In the case of
applications for invention patents, the subsequent filing must be made
within 12 months from the first filing date of the application in the
United States and in the case of applications for design patents, within
6 months from the first filing date in the United States.
Thailand, therefore, is deemed a foreign country which affords
privileges in the case of applications filed in the United States or to
citizens of the United States similar to those afforded under 35 U.S.C.
119.
Accordingly, an application for patent for an invention or a design
filed in the United States on or after January 1, 1996, by any person
who has, or whose legal representatives or assigns have, previously
regularly filed an application for a patent for the same invention or
design in Thailand shall have the benefit bnof the filing date in
Thailand in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 119 and 172.
March 11, 1997 L. J. GOFFNEY for
BRUCE A. LEHMAN
Assistant Secretary of Commerce and
Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks
[1197 OG 35]