Editing Prior art (section)

==Duty of disclosure==
In the United States, inventors and their patent agents or attorneys are required by law to submit any references they are aware of to the [[United States Patent and Trademark Office]] that may be material to the patentability of the claims in a patent application they have filed. The [[patent examiner]] will then determine if the references qualify as "prior art" and may then take them into account when examining the patent application. If a person having a duty to disclose, acting with [[deception|deceptive]] [[intent]], fails to properly disclose the [[materiality (law)|material]] references of which they are aware, then a patent can be found unenforceable for [[inequitable conduct]].<ref name="Therasense">[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14115015337051161932 Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson and Co.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514081419/http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=14115015337051161932 |date=2015-05-14 }}, 649 F. 3d 1276, Ct. App. (Fed. Cir.), 2011.</ref>

[[Japan]] also has a duty of disclosure.<ref name="gastle">[https://web.archive.org/web/20080605232032/http://www.gastle.com/bulletin5.htm Patent e-Bulletin, Summer '2002 Developments: Following The United States, Japan And Australia Enact Duty Of Disclosure Requirements], Gastle & Associates (through archive.org)</ref><ref name="JPmanual">See also Japan's [http://www.jpo.go.jp/tetuzuki_e/t_tokkyo_e/1312-002_e.htm Examination Guidelines for Patent and Utility Model in Japan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204040015/http://www.jpo.go.jp/tetuzuki_e/t_tokkyo_e/1312-002_e.htm |date=2012-02-04 }}, Examination Standards Office, December 2011; and Japan's [http://www.jpo.go.jp/index_e/obtainment.html Right Obtainment Procedures] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204232704/http://www.jpo.go.jp/index_e/obtainment.html |date=2012-02-04 }}.</ref><ref name="jpo">Japan Patent Office, [http://www.jpo.go.jp/cgi/linke.cgi?url=/tetuzuki_e/t_tokkyo_e/prior_art_doc.htm Publication of the "Examination Guidelines on Requirement for Disclosure of Information on Prior Art Documents"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419182221/http://www.jpo.go.jp/cgi/linke.cgi?url=/tetuzuki_e/t_tokkyo_e/prior_art_doc.htm |date=2012-04-19 }}, Last updated 30 August 2002.</ref>

[[Australia]] has abolished its duty of disclosure with regard to the results of documentary searches by, or on behalf of, foreign patent offices, except where: 
*(a) normal exam was requested before April 22, 2007,
*(b) the foreign patent office search issued before April 22, 2007, and 
*(c) acceptance (allowance) was officially advertised before July 22, 2007.<ref name="auRule">[https://archive.today/20121127202331/http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/pdfs/patentsmanual/WebHelp/national/examination/2.13.10_Considering_Subsection_45(3)_Search_Results.htm Australian Patent Office Manual of Practice and Procedure], 2.13.10 Considering Subsection 45(3) Search Results, 2011-08-15.; see also [https://web.archive.org/web/20110720100618/http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/pdfs/news/ON20071018%20Patents%20Amendments%20Regulations.pdf Changes to regulations made under sections of the Patents Act 1990], (sections 27(1), 45(3) and 101D) Australian Official Journal of Patents, 2007-11-01.</ref>