7.2 National prior rights

In view of the importance of national prior rights (see B‑VI, 4.2) for applicants in proceedings before the Unified Patent Court, the examiner expands the top-up search scope at the grant stage (see C‑IV, 7.1) to include national applications and patents of the contracting states, in so far as they are present in the EPO's databases.

The division informs the applicant about the outcome of the top-up search for national prior rights. Those that are prima facie relevant for the application are communicated to the applicant.