4. Consider extending the geographical protection zone

This stage is not specific to EPO proceedings. However, it is decisive in determining the territorial scope of protection for the invention. For a period of one year from the filing of a first application, it is possible to make extensions abroad which will be treated, from the point of view of opposable prior art, in the same way as the first application. In practical terms, this means that the same applicant can make a first filing and then have a 12-month period (known as the priority period) to select the countries where he also intends to obtain protection, without either his initial application or third-party publications made during the priority year being enforceable against his future filings relating to the same invention. It is thus common for a French applicant to file a first application in France with the INPI with a view to obtaining a French patent, and to file a European...