Section 8: Novelty.­(1) An invention shall be considered to be new if it does not form part of the

8. Novelty.­(1) An invention shall be considered to be new if it does not form part of the state of the art. (2) The state of the art shall comprise— (a) everything disclosed to the public anywhere in the world, by publication in tangible form or by oral disclosure, by use or in any other way, prior to the filing or, where appropriate, the priority date, of the application claiming the invention; 1[or] (b) contents of the complete specification and priority documents published under section 21 of an application filed in Pakistan. 2[(c) traditionally developed or existing knowledge available or in possession of a local or indigenous community.] 3[(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub­section (2), disclosure of a patentable invention in respect of goods shall not constitute, ‘state of the art’ if an article is exhibited at any official or officially recognized international exhibition within twelve months preceding the date of filing of an application for grant of patent. If later on, the right of priority is invoked, then the period shall start from the date of introduction of the article into the exhibition. The Controller may require proof, with such documentary evidence as considered necessary, of the identity of the article exhibited and the date of its introduction into the exhibition.] (4) In this section references to the inventor include references to any proprietor of the invention for the time being.

Effective date: 2000-01-01

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