An invention’s character of novelty is not damaged by, for example:
- Mentioning under secrecy
- Showing under secrecy
- Submission of a confidential manuscript
- Submission of a confidential application for support
- Confidential conversations with advisers
In practice, submission of confidential manuscripts alone rarely causes major problems the reason being that it will often take some time from the submission of the manuscript to its publication. A patent application will normally be drawn up and submitted during this time period.