9. Art. 124 and the utilisation scheme

When drafting the search opinion, the search division will consider any prior-art document provided by the applicant under Rule 141(1) or by the office of first filing under Rule 141(2) (see OJ EPO 2011, 62, OJ EPO 2012, 540, OJ EPO 2013, 216, OJ EPO 2015, A2, OJ EPO 2016, A18, OJ EPO 2019, A55, OJ EPO 2021, A38, and OJ EPO 2021, A39) if it is already available at the time (see A‑III, 6.12 and B‑IV, 1.3). Requests for information on prior art under Rule 141(3) cannot be made until the application has entered the examination phase (see C‑III, 5).