Editing Prior art (section)

==Effective date of patents and patent applications as prior art==
It is typical for a patent office to treat its own patents and published patent applications as prior art as of their filing dates,<ref>{{UnitedStatesCode|35|102}}</ref><ref>{{EPC Article|54}} "Novelty"</ref><ref>[https://www.wipo.int/wipolex/en/text/479925 Japan Patent Act, Chapter II]</ref> although under the [[European Patent Convention]], this applies only to novelty rather than inventive step.<ref>{{EPC Article|56}} "Inventive step"</ref> However, [[United States patent law]] before the [[Leahy-Smith America Invents Act]] (AIA) included the Hilmer doctrine, under which United States patents and patent application publications were prior art only as of their earliest effective United States filing dates, i.e., disregarding any foreign priority claimed in those patents and patent application publications. The AIA has abolished the Hilmer doctrine and makes United States patents and patent application publications that name another inventor prior art as of when they were "effectively filed."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brinckerhoff |first=Courtenay |date=October 20, 2011 |title=The Disharmonious Loss Of The Hilmer Doctrine |url=https://patentlawcenter.pli.edu/2011/10/20/the-disharmonious-loss-of-the-hilmer-doctrine/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530112555/https://patentlawcenter.pli.edu/2011/10/20/the-disharmonious-loss-of-the-hilmer-doctrine/ |archive-date=May 30, 2023 |website=Patent Law Practice Center |publisher=Practising Law Institute}}</ref>