20.3. Convention priority: Time limit to claim convention priority

If the applicant wants to use an overseas convention priority claim in an Australian application, they only have 6 months from the (priority) date of the overseas application to apply and request registration/publication in Australia. If the Australian application includes a convention claim but not a request for registration (this is sometimes filed later and separately), they only have 6 months from the convention claim in the application to do so (s 35(2), reg 4.01).

If the applicant misses the 6-month deadline to request registration or publication, they cannot claim priority from the earlier date (i.e. the date of filing in the convention country) – instead the priority date will be the Australian filing date. To try to avoid this, they need to seek an extension of time to request registration/publication with convention priority. We are not required to grant this extension; we will make a decision based on the information provided.

If there is no extension, the applicant will need to amend the registration/publication request to delete the priority claim.