5.1.2 Accorded date of filing and content of the application still subject to review 

The prior art considered by the examiner may comprise documents (European or international patent applications) whose accorded date of filing date and content on the date of filing date are still being reviewed by the EPO, e.g. when:

(i)a European patent application contains parts of the description and/or drawings filed under Rule 56 or (parts of) claims, description and/or drawings filed under Rule 56a, or

(ii)an international patent application contains elements or parts of the description, drawings or claims filed under Rule 20.5 PCT, Rule 20.5bis PCT or Rule 20.6 PCT.

The examiner checks whether a final decision on the accorded date of filing date and the application's content on the date of filing date has already been taken before considering the documents to be state of the art under Art. 54(3). The content determined in accordance with Rules 56 EPC or Rule 56a EPC or Rules 20.5 PCT, Rule 20.5bis PCT or Rule 20.6 PCT is considered to be the content of the application as filed within the meaning of Art. 54(3) EPC. Note that under Rule 56a(4) EPC and Rule 20.5bis(d) PCT, the erroneously filed application documents or parts remain in the application (see A‑II, 6.4 and PCT‑EPO Guidelines A‑II, 6.2).

If the date of filing and/or the content of the disclosure have/has not yet finally been determined, the examiner provisionally deals with the documents (if relevant for assessing the patentability of the claimed subject-matter) as if all application documents and parts of them had been filed on the date of filing initially accorded to the application and revisits the issue later.