Magic Disclosure: How To Make Prior Art Disappear

In determining whether an invention claimed in a patent application is new and inventive, the European Patent Office (EPO) can reference any information made available to the public prior to the filing date of the patent application. As one would imagine, the pool of information at the EPO's disposal is vast and includes any information made available through written or oral description.

With the dawn of the Internet age, it has never been easier to make information available to the public. Indeed, the simple publication of information (such as this article) on a publicly accessible website constitutes a further addition to the ever-growing reservoir of information which can be used to assess the novelty and inventiveness of subsequently filed patent applications.