4. Taking of evidence
Written evidence can include the supply of information or the production of a document or a sworn statement.
For example, to rebut an examiner's allegation of lack of inventive step, the applicant might supply information as to the technical advantages of the invention. Or they might produce a sworn statement, either from themself or from an independent witness, purporting to show that workers in the art have been trying for a long time unsuccessfully to solve the problem with which the invention is concerned or that the invention is a completely new departure in the relevant art.