Which of the following can serve as a 102(e) date for an international application?

In the context of international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), a 102(e) date refers to the effective date that can be used for determining prior art based on the filing of a patent application. The correct answer relates to the earliest priority date, which can serve as a valid 102(e) date when certain conditions are met.

When an international application is filed, it can claim a priority from an earlier application, typically a national or regional application. This is known as the priority date. If the international application is filed correctly and claims the earlier application's filing date as its priority date, that date will be recognized as its 102(e) date for the purposes of assessing prior art relevant to the application.

This aspect is important because the 102(e) date is used to establish what constitutes prior art against that application; any applications, publications, or patents that were published after that 102(e) date cannot be used to negate novelty or non-obviousness in relation to the international application.

Other choices, such as the filing date of an application in a language other than English, or the submission date of the initial application, do not qualify as 102(e) dates under the relevant guidelines. The date the