Which statute governs provisional application claims under priority?

The statute that governs provisional application claims under priority is 35 USC 119(e). This section specifically addresses the rights of applicants who file a provisional application and subsequently file a non-provisional application claiming the benefit of the earlier provisional filing date. According to 35 USC 119(e), if a non-provisional application is filed within 12 months of a provisional application, the non-provisional application can claim the benefit of the provisional application’s filing date. This provision is crucial for protecting the early filing date of an innovation, allowing inventors to secure priority for their inventions while they continue to develop and refine their ideas before committing to a more formal non-provisional application.

The choices regarding other statutes do play roles in patent law, such as 35 USC 119(a)-(d), which deals with foreign priority claims, and 35 USC 120, which relates to the benefit of earlier non-provisional applications. However, they do not specifically address the unique aspects of provisional applications or the priority claims stemming from them. Likewise, 35 USC 102 relates to novelty and statutory bars but does not pertain directly to the priority claims for provisional applications. Thus, 35 USC 119(e) is the correct and most relevant statute in this context