GL-PCT G IV 6 Prior art made available to the public anywhere in the world by non-written disclosure

A non-written disclosure is not considered part of the prior art for the purposes of Art. 33(2) and (3) if the date of that non-written disclosure is indicated in a written disclosure which has been made available to the public on or after the relevant date of the application (i.e. on or after the international filing date or, if a priority has been validly claimed, the earliest priority date).[Rule 33.1(b);

GL-PCT G IV 5.2 Co-pending applications

The PCT does not deal explicitly with the case of co-pending international applications of the same applicant of the same effective date, see ISPE Guidelines 11.10.

GL-PCT G IV 5.1 Prior art pursuant to Rules 33.1(c) and 64.3

Under the PCT, the prior art does not comprise the content of other applications filed or validly claiming a priority date earlier than – but published on or after – the date of filing or valid date of priority of the application being examined. However, attention must be drawn to such applications in the international search report and, where applicable, the preliminary examination report, as they may become relevant under Article 54(3) EPC (see also GL/PCT‑EPO B‑XI, 4.3).

GL-PCT G IV 5 Conflict with other applications

5.1 Prior art pursuant to Rules 33.1(c) and 64.3

5.2 Co-pending applications

GL-PCT G IV 4.1 Machine translations

In order to overcome the language barrier constituted by a document in an unfamiliar non-official language, it might be appropriate for the examiner to rely on a machine translation of the document, which should be sent to the applicant. If only part of the translated document is relevant, the particular passage relied upon should be identified. A translation has to serve the purpose of rendering the meaning of the text in a familiar language.

GL-PCT G IV 4 Documents in a non‑official language of the (S)ISA or IPEA

Where applicants

(i)dispute the relevance of a document in a non-official language cited in the search report (for procedure at the search stage, see GL/PCT‑EPO B‑X, 9.1.2 and 9.1.3), an

GL-PCT G IV 3 Date of filing or priority date as effective date

It should be noted that for the purpose of international preliminary examination all prior art is taken into account which was publicly available before the international filing date or, where a priority has been validly claimed, before the date of priority. It should be remembered that different claims, or different alternatives claimed in one claim, may have different effective dates, i.e. the date of filing or (one of) the claimed priority date(s).

GL-PCT G IV 2 Enabling disclosures

The principles as laid down in section G‑IV, 2, in the Guidelines for Examination in the EPO apply mutatis mutandis.

GL-PCT G IV 1 General remarks and definition

An invention is to be "considered novel if it is not anticipated by the prior art". The "prior art shall consist of everything which has been made available to the public anywhere in the world by means of written disclosure (including drawings and other illustrations) and which is capable of being of assistance in determining that the claimed invention is or is not new and that it does or does not involve an inventive step (i.e., that it is or is not obvious), provided that the making available to the public occurred prior to the international filing date".