Learning path for patent examiners

This publication, "Novelty, Entry level", is part of the "Learning path for patent examiners" series edited and published by the European Patent Academy. The series is intended for patent examiners at national patent offices who are taking part in training organised by the European Patent Office (EPO). It is also freely available to the public for independent learning.
Topics covered include novelty, inventive step, clarity, unity of invention, sufficiency of disclosure, amendments and search. Also addressed are patenting issues specific to certain technical fields:
▪ patentability exceptions and exclusions in biotechnology
▪ assessment of novelty, inventive step, clarity, sufficiency of disclosure and unity of invention for chemical inventions
▪ the patentability of computer-implemented inventions, business methods, game rules, mathematics and its applications, presentations of information, graphical user interfaces and programs for computers
▪ claim formulation for computer-implemented inventions
Each publication focuses on one topic at entry, intermediate or advanced level. The explanations and examples are based on the European Patent Convention, the Guidelines for Examination in the EPO and selected decisions of the EPO's boards of appeal. References are made to the Patent Cooperation Treaty and its Regulations whenever appropriate.
The series will be revised annually to ensure it remains up to date.