(1) An invention is deemed to be new if it does not form part of the state of the art. The state of the art is held to comprise all knowledge made available to the public before the date governing the filing or priority date of the application by means of a written or oral description, by use or in any other way.
(2) The content of the following patent applications having an earlier filing or priority date which were made available to the public on or after the date governing the filing or priority date of the later application is also deemed to be comprised in the state of the art:
1. national applications as filed with the German Patent and Trade Mark Office;
2. European applications as filed with the competent authority if the application seeks protection in the Federal Republic of Germany and the designation fee has been paid for the Federal Republic of Germany pursuant to Article 79 (2) of the European Patent Convention and if, in the case of a Euro-PCT application (Article 153 (2) of the European Patent Convention), the requirements laid down in Article 153 (5) of the European Patent Convention are fulfilled;
3. international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty as filed with the receiving Office, provided the German Patent and Trade Mark Office is the designated Office in respect of the application.
If the earlier filing or priority date of an application is based on the claim to the priority of an earlier application, sentence 1 applies only to the extent that the version of the application in question does not extend beyond the version of the earlier application. Patent applications pursuant to sentence 1 no. 1, in respect of which an order has been made in accordance with section 50 (1) or (4) are deemed to have been made available to the public after the expiry of a period of 18 months following their filing.
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not exclude the patentability of any substance or composition, comprised in the state of the art, for use in a method referred to in section 2a (1) no. 2, provided that its use for any such method is not comprised in the state of the art.
(4) Subsections (1) and (2) also do not exclude the patentability of any substance or composition referred to in subsection (3) for any specific use in a method referred to in section 2a (1) no. 2, provided that such use is not comprised in the state of the art.
(5) For the application of subsections (1) and (2), a disclosure of the invention is not taken into consideration if it occurred no earlier than six months preceding the filing of the application and if it was due to, or in consequence of
1. an evident abuse in relation to the applicant or the applicant’s legal predecessor, or
2. the fact that the applicant or the applicant’s legal predecessor has displayed the invention at an official, or officially recognised, international exhibition falling within the terms of the Convention on international exhibitions signed at Paris on 22 November 1928.
Sentence 1 no. 2 applies only if the applicant states, when filing the application, that the invention has been so displayed and files a certificate to that effect within four months after the filing. Exhibitions referred to in sentence 1 no. 2 are notified by the Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection in the Federal Gazette.