4.2 National earlier prior rights

There may also be national applications of one or more states designated in the European application of which the dates of filing are prior to the filing or priority date of the European application, and which were published as national applications or patents on or after that date. Although such applications are not a bar to the grant of a European patent, but only a potential ground for revocation in the contracting state(s) concerned, they may be of importance to the applicant (see H‑III, 4.4). Therefore, any of these which are present in the documentation are noted and mentioned in the search report for information (see B‑X, 9.2.6).