The applicant may also, on his own initiative, divide a patent application and preserve as the date of each divisional application the date of the initial application and the benefit of the right of priority, if any.

• 申请人也可以主动将一项专利申请分案，保留第一次申请的日期为各该分案申请的日期，如果有优先权，并保有优先权的利益。