Impact Of Prior Disclosure On Novelty

Since the amendment of Patent Law in 2008, the novelty criteria in China has been raised to "Absolute Novelty Standard". Absolute novelty means that an invention is new if it has not been used or disclosed anywhere in the world.

Since "Absolute Novelty Standard" was adopted, some applications have already lost their novelty because of unintentional prior disclosure. However, in practice, it should be noted that sometimes although an invention seems to have been "disclosed", for example it has been used or exhibited, in fact its novelty may not be destroyed and a patent application for it can still be filed. This article will introduce the legal provisions regarding novelty and prior disclosure and discuss the impact of prior disclosure on novelty, aiming to provide some help to patent applicants.