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2.5.1.4.2 Operation of Section 7

Date Published

Note: The information in this part only applies to standard patent applications with an examination request filed before 15 April 2013.  For all other standard patent applications, see 2.5.1.4.2A Operation of Section 7.

Specific differences between novelty and inventive step arising from the operation of sec 7 are:

  • for inventive step a single piece of prior art information, or a combination of any 2 or more pieces of prior art information, can be considered together with the common general knowledge in Australia at the priority date of the claim in question (in contrast to novelty, where a single piece of prior art information is read in the light of common general knowledge (with no geographical limitation) at the date of publication of the prior art information) - see 2.5.2.1.1 Introduction.

  • any piece of prior art information relied upon for an inventive step objection must be one which the person skilled in the relevant art would be reasonably expected to have ascertained, understood and regarded as relevant.

  • for applications filed on or after 1 April 2002, for inventive step it is permissible to consider any 2 or more pieces of prior art information that the person skilled in the relevant art could be reasonably expected to have combined (in contrast to novelty, where pieces of prior art information can only be combined if the person skilled in the relevant art would treat them as a single source of information) - see 2.4.4.4 Mosaics and Related Documents and 2.5.2.5.5 Could the Person Skilled in the Art be Reasonably Expected to Have Combined the Documents to Solve the Problem?

  • common general knowledge alone can be considered for the purposes of inventive step.

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