GL B VI 5.4 Documents published after the filing date

The search does not normally take into consideration documents published after the date of filing of the application as accorded by the Receiving Section.
However, certain situations may occur in which a document published after the filing date is relevant; examples are the written confirmation of an oral disclosures (see B‑VI, 2), or a later document containing the principle or theory underlying the invention, which may be useful for a better understanding of the invention, or a later document showing that the reasoning or the facts underlying the invention are incorrect (see B‑X, 9.2.5). The search is not extended for this purpose, but documents of this nature known to the search division could be selected for citation in the report.
If priority is validly claimed (see B‑VI, 5.1), the search also does not normally take into consideration documents published after the earliest validly claimed priority date as the latter counts under Art. 89 as the date of filing of the application. However, some extension is necessary for specific purposes, as is apparent from B‑VI, 3, B‑VI, 4, and B‑VI, 5.3.

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