4. Priority claim and the search opinion 

When it is not possible to check the validity of the priority claim at the search stage, because:

(i)the search is carried out before the date by when the priority document has to be supplied (up to 16 months from the earliest claimed priority – Rule 53(1))

(ii)a translation of the priority document is required but not available to the search division when drafting the search opinion (Rule 53(3), see A‑III, 6.8 and its subsections, and F‑VI, 3.4),

the priority claim will usually be assumed to be valid for the purposes of the search opinion. Where the only objections which could be raised against the application at this stage depend on the priority being invalid, and the priority document (or its translation) is not available, the search division will issue an entirely positive search opinion without any objections. In case (ii) above, a communication under Rule 53(3) may be issued (see A‑III, 6.8.1) and the priority's validity may later be reviewed in examination proceedings.

However, if a priority claim's validity has to be assessed as a result of intermediate prior art or potential state of the art under Art. 54(3), and evidence against its validity is already available, then this needs to be brought up in the search opinion. For example, where the priority document is available when the search opinion is drafted and the technical features of the claims are not in the priority document, the search division may be able to do this even without a required translation if it is familiar with the language of the priority document (see also B‑VI, 5.3).