互联网公开作为现有技术（1）| EPO审查指南

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EPO审查指南认为：对特定人群的限制访问（例如通过密码保护）或者访问要求支付（类似于购买书籍或订阅期刊），都不会阻止网页成为现有技术的一部分。如果网页原则上可用而没有任何保密性就足够了。

7.5 Internet disclosures 

As a matter of principle, disclosures on the internet form part of the state of the art according to Art. 54(2). Information disclosed on the internet or in online databases is considered to be publicly available as of the date the information was publicly posted. Internet websites often contain highly relevant technical information. Certain information may even be available only on the internet from such websites. This includes, for example, online manuals and tutorials for software products (such as video games) or other products with a short life cycle. Hence for the sake of a valid patent it is often crucial to cite publications only obtainable from such internet websites.

7.5.1 Establishing the publication date 

Establishing a publication date has two aspects. It must be assessed separately whether a given date is indicated correctly and whether the content in question was indeed made available to the public as of that date.

The nature of the internet can make it difficult to establish the actual date on which information was made available to the public: for instance, not all web pages mention when they were published. Also, websites are easily updated, yet most do not provide any archive of previously displayed material, nor do they display records which enable members of the public – including examiners – to establish precisely what was published and when.

Neither restricting access to a limited circle of people (e.g. by password protection) nor requiring payment for access (analogous to purchasing a book or subscribing to a journal) prevent a web page from forming part of the state of the art. It is sufficient if the web page is in principle available without any bar of confidentiality.

Finally, it is theoretically possible to manipulate the date and content of an internet disclosure (as it is with traditional documents). However, in view of the sheer size and redundancy of the content available on the internet, it is considered very unlikely that an internet disclosure discovered by an examiner has been manipulated. Consequently, unless there are specific indications to the contrary, the date can be accepted as being correct.

7.5 互联网信息披露

原则上，根据Art 54（2），互联网上的披露形成了现有技术的一部分。在互联网或在线数据库中披露的信息被认为是自公开发布信息之日起公开可用的信息。 Internet网站通常包含高度相关的技术信息。某些信息甚至可能仅在互联网上从这些网站获得。这包括，例如，软件产品（如视频游戏）或生命周期较短的其他产品的在线手册和教程。因此，为了获得有效的专利，引用仅可从这些互联网网站获得的出版物通常是至关重要的。

7.5.1 确定发布日期

确定出版日期有两个方面。必须单独评估是否正确指示了某个日期，以及该日期是否确实向公众提供了相关内容。

互联网的性质使得难以确定向公众提供信息的实际日期：例如，并非所有网页都会提及什么时候发布。此外，网站很容易更新，但大多数网站不提供以前显示的材料的任何存档，也不显示使公众成员（包括审查员）准确确定发布内容和时间的记录。

对特定人群的限制访问（例如通过密码保护）或者访问要求支付（类似于购买书籍或订阅期刊），都不会阻止网页成为现有技术的一部分。如果网页原则上可用而没有任何保密性就足够了。

最后，虽然理论上可以操纵互联网公开的日期和内容（与传统文档一样），然而，鉴于互联网上可用内容的庞大规模和冗余，可以认为审查员发现的互联网披露不太可能被操纵。因此，除非有相反的具体说明，否则日期可被认为是正确的公开日。

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