9.3 Relationship between documents and claims 

Each document cited in the search report is accompanied by an indication of the claims to which it relates, unless it falls in category "L" (see B‑X, 9.2.8). The same document can be cited in different categories for different claims, but the specific claims it relates to in each category must be indicated.

Example

The document cited in the above example discloses subject-matter which prejudices the novelty or inventive step of the subject-matter of claim 1 and, when the document is combined with another one cited in the search report, the inventive step of the subject-matter of claims 2 to 5 and which also represents non-prejudicial state of the art for the subject-matter of claims 6 to 10. The passages or figures are not necessarily relevant to the claims and the category indicated on the same line.

Generally speaking, all claims are mentioned in the search report at least once in relation to at least one document published before the earliest priority date (unless a particular claim was not searched because the search was restricted as described in B‑X, 8) (see B‑IV, 2.5).