IPA patent 6.1.11.4-dates-searched — IP Australia Patent Manual of Practice and Procedure – 6.1.11.4 Dates Searched

Also in this Chapter: 6.1.11.1 Overview - Novelty / Inventive Step 6.1.11.2 Inventive Step 6.1.11.3 Searching Product by Process Claims ​​​​​​​ 6.1.11.5 Conducting the Search 6.1.11.6 Useful Techniques (“piggy” back/forward searching) 6.1.11.7 Obtaining Full Copies 6.1.11.8 Considering and Culling the Documents 6.1.11.9 Ending the Search 6.1.11.10 Categorising the Citations 6.1.11.11 Grouping the Claims Key Legislation: PCT ISPE Guidelines: Paragraph 15.03 Objective of the International Search and Supplementary International Search Paragraph 17.29 Box No. II: Priority Related chapters: 6.1.12.5.2 Citation Category 6.1.14 Priority Document On this page Priority date and international filing date Citing innovation patents Priority date and international filing date Examiners are to carry out PCT searches among documents published prior to the international filing date (as distinct from the priority date), which is taken as the basic reference date for the search. However, for the purposes of the International Search Opinion (ISO) the examiner must form a view as to validity of the claimed priority date and examine for novelty and inventive step on the basis of that valid priority date. An exception is that if the priority document is not yet available at the time the ISO is being prepared, then the priority date is to be assumed valid (see Paragraph 15.03 and paragraph 17.29(b) of the PCT International Search and Preliminary Examination Guidelines, and also 6.1.14 Priority Document ). There is no provision under the PCT for a search for ‘whole of contents’ novelty as provided for under the Australian Patents Act 1990. Citing innovation patents Circumstances may arise where it is appropriate to cite an innovation patent as a ‘P,X’ document in an international search on an international application which is a family member. This can result from innovation patents being published relatively quickly after filing, which can in turn result in the publication date of the innovation patent being earlier than the international filing date of the international application. See also: 6.1.12.5.2 Citation Category .