4.1 Restoration of priority 

See F‑VI, 3.7.

If the examiner notices that the filing date exceeds the earliest priority date plus twelve and two months this may be indicated in the WO-ISA.

The examiner may receive an international application with a filing date which is later than the date on which the priority period expired but still within the period of two months from that date (i.e. up to 14 months later).

The examiner need not take any action in this case and will treat the international application as if it had been filed within the priority year. This is because the priority claim is automatically retained in the international phase if the filing date is within a period of 14 months from the claimed priority. The examiner may indicate in Box II of the WO-ISA that the priority period has been exceeded by x days.

If there is any change in the situation as regards the priority claim on entry into the European phase (Euro-PCT), the examiner will be informed.

If the examiner notices that the filing date exceeds the earliest priority date by more than 14 months from the claimed priority, this may be indicated in Box II of the WO-ISA. It should be noted that, even in such cases, the priority may actually be valid, e.g. where there has been a simple error in the indication of the priority claim which is open to correction.