NOVELTY is one of the oldest and most important requirements in the history of the patent law.
NOVELTY cannot be proven or established--only its absence can be proved.
PRIOR ART (Novelty)
Determining the closest 'prior art', which is defined as that combination of features, disclosed in one single reference, which constitutes the most promising starting point for an obvious development leading to the invention.
In practice, the closest prior art is generally that which corresponds to a similar use and requires the minimum of structural and functional modifications to arrive at the claimed invention.
'relative novelty'
...invention checked for novelty only within a certain country, time period, or patent applications.
...rare...In the USA for example, if the invention is published the inventor or his successor in title can still file a patent application within one year of such publication.
VS.
'absolute novelty'
...novelty evaluated without geographical, time, linguistic or other boundaries (reduced risk of disputes and cancelations in other countries).
...most countries