2. How is novelty defined by law?

In everyday language, novelty can be defined as the character of that which has never been seen before or was not yet known. Such a definition raises many questions.

For example, this definition does not answer the question of by whom or in what territory a thing must never have been seen in order to be considered new. A priori, a thing can be new for some without necessarily being new for others.

Nor does this definition answer the question of how far a thing can be considered "known", and thus lose its novelty.

In French law ( article L. 611-11 paragraphe 1 du CPI ) or in the EPC (