Patent Systems in Facing the Occurrence of Same Date Filing Identical Patent Application by Two Applicants = Patent Systems in Facing the Occurrence of Same Date Filing Identical Patent Application by Two Applicants

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The aim of this paper is to address the occurrence of two applicants apply an identical patent on the same date. This circumstance might cause a legal problem concerning who will get the patent between two applicants if there are no proper solutions given in several countries` patent Acts. A question arises Between two systems which are First-to-Invent and First-to-File, in case in which two or more applicants submit patent applications claiming the same or substantially similar subject matter close in time or on the same day. First-to-File system, which based on the earliest effective filing date on patent application, provisions embedded in Indonesia, South Korea and Japan`s Patent Acts are giving the chance to both applicants to enter into negotiation with specified period of time, except European Countries. Meanwhile, First-to-Invent system giving solution with its administrative proceeding, for example United States with its First-Inventor-to-File system. Country`s patent office, which use First-to-File system, can undergo time preference in order to overcome the issue. Time preference instead of date preference means in using First-to-File principle, the patent office of a country is basing the filing application of every application on the time base and also changing the basis from date standard to time standard. Therefore, when two applicants or more file applications on the same date, whoever files it earlier on the time base will be granted the patent. In order to strengthen this new approach, several things have to be taken into account which are the technological infrastructure as a supporting variable and also the time differences which exist in a country that makes one country is having several different time bases.