Title 17 — CopyrightsRelease 119-73not60
§1311 Benefit of Earlier Filing Date in Foreign Country
Title 17 › Chapter 13— PROTECTION OF ORIGINAL DESIGNS › § 1311
Summary
If you file for a design registration in the United States and you (or your legal representative, or the person who owned or later gets the rights) already filed for the same design in a foreign country, your U.S. filing can count as if it were filed on the earlier foreign filing date. This only applies if that foreign country gives the same kind of protection to U.S. citizens or to U.S. design applications, and you file in the United States within 6 months of the first foreign filing.
Full Legal Text
Title 17, §1311
Copyrights — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
An application for registration of a design filed in the United States by any person who has, or whose legal representative or predecessor or successor in title has, previously filed an application for registration of the same design in a foreign country which extends to designs of owners who are citizens of the United States, or to applications filed under this chapter, similar protection to that provided under this chapter shall have that same effect as if filed in the United States on the date on which the application was first filed in such foreign country, if the application in the United States is filed within 6 months after the earliest date on which any such foreign application was filed.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
17 U.S.C. § 1311
Title 17 — Copyrights
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60