| Country | WIPO country Code* | Grace Period | Grace Period Description (from WIPO 06/2017)** |
Prior Art Definitions (from WIPO 06/2017)*** |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finland | FI | 6 months before priority/filing |
Disclosure not to be taken into account in determining patentability if it occurred within six months before the filing date due to:
1. an evident abuse in relation to the applicant or his predecessor in title; 2. display of the invention at an official or officially recognized international exhibition. |
1. Everything made available to the public in writing, in lectures, by public use or otherwise before the filing date (priority date).
2. Contents of certain Finnish, European and international patent applications, and Finnish utility model applications, with an earlier filing date (priority date) which are made available to the public. |
| Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | MK | 6 months before priority/filing |
Disclosure not to be taken into account in determining novelty if it occurred within six months before the filing date due to:
1. an evident abuse in relation to the applicant or his legal predecessor; 2. display of the invention by the applicant or his legal predecessor at an official or officially recognized exhibition. |
1. Everything made accessible to the public by a written or oral description, use or in any other way before the filing date (priority date).
2. Contents of certain Macedonian, European and international patent applications with an earlier filing date (priority date). |
| France | FR | 6 months before priority/filing |
1. Disclosure not to be taken into account in determining novelty if it occurred within six months before the filing date due to: (a) an evident abuse in relation to the applicant or his predecessor in title; (b) display of the invention by the applicant or his predecessor in title at an official or officially recognized international exhibition. 2. The applicant shall declare at the time of filing that the invention has been so displayed, and furnish proof to that effect within a prescribed time limit. |
1. Everything made available to the public by a written or oral description, use, or in any other way before the filing date (priority date).
2. Contents of French patent applications and European and international patent applications designating France with an earlier filing date (priority date) published on or after that date. |
| Georgia | GE | 12 months before priority/filing |
Disclosure not to be taken into account in determining patentability if it occurred within 12 months before the filing date (priority date): (a) by action of an inventor or his/her successor in title; (b) if information for the third party is disclosed, directly or indirectly, on the condition of confidentiality; (c) as a result of third person’s action in bad faith against the inventor or his/her successor. |
1. Data made available to the public from a written or verbal description, public use or other source before the filing date (priority date).
2. Contents of Georgian patent and utility model applications with an earlier filing date (priority date) published after the filing date (priority date). |
| Germany | DE | 6 months before priority/filing |
1. Disclosure not to be taken into account in determining novelty if it occurred within six months before the filing date due to: (a) an evident abuse in relation to the applicant or his predecessor in title; (b) display of the invention by the applicant or his predecessor in title at an official or officially recognized international exhibition notified in the Federal Law Gazette. 2. The applicant shall state when filing the application that the invention has been so displayed, and file a certificate within four months. |
1. Anything made available to the public by a written or oral description, use, or in any other way before the filing date (priority date).
2. Contents of certain German, European and international patent applications with an earlier filing date (priority date) published on or after the filing date (priority date). |
| Ghana | GH | 12 months before priority/filing | Disclosure not to be taken into account in determining novelty if it occurred within 12 months before the filing date (priority date). |
1. Everything made available to the public by a written or oral disclosure, use, exhibition or other non-written means before the filing date (priority date).
2. Contents of Ghana patent and utility model applications with an earlier filing date (priority date) which are made available to the public. |
| Greece | GR | 6 months before priority/filing |
1. Disclosure not to be taken into account in determining patentability if it occurred within six months before the filing date due to: (a) an evident abuse of the rights of the applicant or predecessor in title; (b) display of the invention at an officially recognized international exhibition. 2. The applicant shall state when filing the application that the invention has been so displayed, and shall file a certificate. |
Anything made available to the public by a written or oral disclosure or any other way before the filing date (priority date). |
| Guatemala | GT | 1 year before priority/filing |
The state of the art does not include disclosure of an invention within one year before the filing date (priority date) resulting from:
1. acts done directly or indirectly by the inventor or his successor in title or a breach of contract by a third party or an unlawful act against any of them; 2. publication of applications by an industrial property Office abroad; 3. publication of the application in the patent granting process where the patent was filed by a person who was not entitled to that patent or the applications were published as a result of an error by the Office. |
1. Anything disclosed or made available to the public anywhere in the world and by any means before the filing date (priority date).
2. Contents of previous patent applications filed with the Registry with an earlier filing date (priority date) provided that the patent applications were published. |
*Not part of PCT
**Source: www.wipo.int/scp/en/national_laws/grace_period.pdf
***Source: www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/scp/en/national_laws/prior_art.pdf
