What must be done to claim priority based on a foreign application?

To claim priority based on a foreign application under U.S. patent law, several conditions must be fulfilled, which is why the comprehensive option is the correct choice.

Filing within six months of the initial foreign application is crucial because, under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, applicants have a six-month period to file a U.S. application that claims priority from their foreign application. This is particularly important for designs and some other types of applications, as it allows inventors to secure their filing date and protect their invention while evaluating the market or seeking funding.

Furthermore, claiming priority must generally occur within one year of the first foreign application in circumstances where an applicant is seeking priority for a patent filed in a country that is not a Paris Convention member. This ensures that applicants can maintain their priority rights for a significant time while still adhering to the prescriptive timeline.

Lastly, it is essential that the foreign application has not been abandoned at the time the U.S. application claiming priority is filed. If the foreign application has been abandoned, the priority claim cannot be validly made, which would jeopardize the rights of the applicant in the U.S. jurisdiction.

Each of these conditions must be met to effectively claim priority based on a foreign application,