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Guidelines for Examination in the EPO

 
 
Guidelines for Examination - Table of Contents  
Part C Guidelines for Substantive Examination PART B PART D  
Chapter IV Patentability Chapter III Claims Chapter V Priority  
9. Novelty 8. Conflict with national rights of earlier date 10. Non-prejudicial disclosures  
9.2 Implicit features or well-known equivalents 9.1 State of the art pursuant to Art. 54(2) 9.3 Relevant date of a prior document  


9.2 Implicit features or well-known equivalents

 

A document takes away the novelty of any claimed subject-matter derivable directly and unambiguously from that document including any features implicit to a person skilled in the art in what is expressly mentioned in the document, e.g. a disclosure of the use of rubber in circumstances where clearly its elastic properties are used even if this is not explicitly stated takes away the novelty of the use of an elastic material. The limitation to subject-matter "derivable directly and unambiguously" from the document is important. Thus, when considering novelty, it is not correct to interpret the teaching of a document as embracing well-known equivalents which are not disclosed in the documents; this is a matter of obviousness.