Patents in Israel

A large proportion of Israeli inventors submit their inventions for registration for patent in Israel.

Submitting a patent for registration in Israel grants the inventor a priority date (sometimes called priority right), which allows the inventor to submit a petition for patent in other countries relying on the priority date in the Israeli request for patent.

For example: On a specific date,, an Israeli inventor submitted a request for patent, received a number and the request received that day’s date.

Three months later, an American inventor submitted a request identical to that submitted by the Israeli inventor. Let’s say that six months after submitting the request in Israel, the Israeli inventor submitted a request for an American patent for the same invention. If after examination in the USA, the Israeli inventor’s request is found worthy of granting patent, the Israeli inventor with receive American patent, despite the fact that the American inventor submitted an identical request three months earlier and that will be based on the priority date for the request for patent in Israel.

The priority date for requests for patent in Israel is valid for one year, but can be extended by making a request for an international patent called PCT. That request extends the validity of the priority date (the priorirty right) for another year and a half. Therefore, during that overall period of two and a half years, in addition to the request made in Israel, the inventor will be able to submit requests in additional countries, on condition of course that the inventor has also submitted a PCT request.