A person who has duly filed an application for a trade mark in or in respect of any State
party to the Paris Convention or to the Agreement establishing the World Trade
Organisation, or his successors in title, shall enjoy, for the purpose of filing an EU trade
mark application for the same trade mark in respect of goods or services which are
identical with or contained within those for which the application has been filed, a right of
priority during a period of six months from the date of filing of the first application.
Every filing that is equivalent to a regular national filing under the national law of the State
where it was made or under bilateral or multilateral agreements shall be recognised as
giving rise to a right of priority.
By a regular national filing is meant any filing that is sufficient to establish the date on
which the application was filed, whatever may be the outcome of the application.
A subsequent application for a trade mark which was the subject of a previous first
application in respect of the same goods or services and which is filed in or in respect of
the same State shall be considered as the first application for the purposes of determining
priority, provided that, at the date of filing of the subsequent application, the previous
application has been withdrawn, abandoned or refused, without being open to public
inspection and without leaving any rights outstanding, and has not served as a basis for
claiming a right of priority. The previous application may not thereafter serve as a basis for
claiming a right of priority.
If the first filing has been made in a State which is not a party to the Paris Convention or to
the Agreement establishing the World Trade Organisation, paragraphs 1 to 4 shall apply
only in so far as that State, according to published findings, grants, on the basis of the first
filing made at the Office and subject to conditions equivalent to those laid down in this
Regulation, a right of priority having equivalent effect. The Executive Director shall,
where necessary, request the Commission to consider enquiring as to whether a State
within the meaning of the first sentence accords that reciprocal treatment. If the
Commission determines that reciprocal treatment in accordance with the first sentence is
accorded, it shall publish a communication to that effect in the Official Journal of theEuropean Union.
Paragraph 5 shall apply from the date of publication in the Official Journal of theEuropean Union of the communication determining that reciprocal treatment is accorded,
unless the communication states an earlier date from which it is applicable. It shall cease to
apply from the date of publication in the Official Journal of the European Union of a
communication of the Commission to the effect that reciprocal treatment is no longer
accorded, unless the communication states an earlier date from which it is applicable.
Communications as referred to in paragraphs 5 and 6 shall also be published in the Official
Journal of the Office.