The best plan for language limitations as to EDOC could be in using EDOC to ferret out dates of prior art which occur after 1963. Then the user could enter the more expensive Derwent with those patent numbers to obtain English versions of those patents. Nevertheless, the text of those prior patents would still be limited to French language if EDOC were the only available other source. It offers references to Chemical Abstracts, Derwent Accession Numbers, and Patent Abstracts of Japan . The information is prepared by the EPO and updated weekly.
Problems arise when attempting to search non-patent literature.
There is no guarantee that one's search would be comprehensive, even if every periodical on the IB's list were exhausted. Hence, it is to the applicant's discretion to decide if, based upon good results in the patent-related search, it would be economical to go ahead and file the application and allow the ISA to perform the search with the hopes of either the same negligible results as the patent literature or the ability to amend the claims appropriately. If the researcher could search each periodical on the minimum documentation list in ten minutes, that's around twenty-four hours of search time. Even under the most drastic circumstances using the EPO as the ISA, single invention searches will not cost this much. True, the filing fees must also be paid to reach the search stage, but these will have to be paid either way, assuming that the inventor decides to go ahead with the invention.