International and Regional Patent Law: Paris Convention, PCT, TRIPS, priority
Paris Convention
The Paris Convention provides priority: a regular first application in a member state gives 12 months to file in other member states for the same invention. Priority protects against intervening prior art; it does not extend the patent term. Israel is a member and applies the priority system through its Patents Law and regulations. The applicant must identify the priority application and supply the required copy.
PCT and TRIPS
The PCT creates an international filing, search and optional preliminary examination system, not a global patent. It preserves priority and delays national phase decisions; Israel's national phase generally opens within 30 months from priority, subject to fees and translations. TRIPS sets minimum substantive and enforcement standards, national treatment and most-favoured-nation treatment. It does not create a unitary patent.
Worked example
An applicant files a PCT application on 10 January 2022 claiming priority from a US application filed 12 January 2021. The PCT preserves the 2021 priority date. To obtain an Israeli patent, the applicant enters the Israeli national phase by the applicable deadline and requests examination. If granted, the Israeli patent expires 20 years from the international filing date (10 January 2022), not from the priority date.
Traps
Do not assume a PCT application is examined centrally for patentability. Do not miss the 12-month priority deadline or the national-phase deadline. Do not claim priority for subject matter not disclosed in the first application. Treat TRIPS as a floor, not a self-executing grant of rights.