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2.5.2.5.3.3 Age of the Document

Date Published

Note: The information in this part only applies to standard patent applications with an examination request filed before 15 April 2013.  For standard patent applications with an examination request filed on or after 15 April 2013, the requirement that the prior art information be ascertained, understood and regarded as relevant by the person skilled in the art does not apply.

In the first instance, examiners should not exclude a document by reason of its age. However, in some arts a person skilled in the art would not seek assistance from an old document and thus such documents cannot be used as a basis for an inventive step objection. Therefore, at further report examiners should accept persuasive arguments on their merits (see 2.13.5 Stringency of Tests During Examination).

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