3.1.5 Explicit or implicit disclosure of the features of the invention in the priority document

In G 2/98 (OJ 2001, 413) the Enlarged Board stated that priority for a claim, i.e. an "element of the invention" within the meaning of Art. 4H Paris Convention, is to be acknowledged if the subject-matter of the claim is specifically disclosed, be it explicitly or implicitly, in the application documents relating to the disclosure, and priority can be refused if there is no such disclosure.

Already in decision T 81/87 (OJ 1990, 250), it had been held that, although no identical wording was required, the disclosure of the essential elements, i.e. features of the invention, in the priority document, must either be express, or be directly and unambiguously implied by the text as filed (see also fuller summary of T 81/87 in chapter II.D.3.1.6. below; see also T 184/84). T 81/87 has been followed in numerous decisions, both before and after G 2/98 (e.g. T 301/87, OJ 1990, 335; T 296/93, T 479/97, T 342/98).