IP should be an integral part of any technology innovator’s business plan. After filing your first patent application, it’s important to know what the next steps are. But navigating patent protection can feel overwhelming—especially when deciding where to apply or managing limited funds to cover multiple target countries. Here’s the good news: several mechanisms allow you to defer both this decision and the associated costs.

The Paris Convention enables a patent application filed in any signatory country to serve as the basis for a priority claim when filing in another country within one year. Let’s break that down that legalistic sentence with a simple example:

Say you filed a U.S. patent application for a catalytic converter on August 1, 2024. You can file a corresponding application in Japan (or another country) as late as August 1, 2025. The Japanese application would still benefit from the original U.S. filing date of August 1, 2024. Pretty helpful, right? However, there are specific conditions that apply, so it’s crucial to consult with a qualified patent professional.

(As a quick note: the filing date of a patent carries significant importance, but that’s a topic for another post.)