Article 19
Amendment of the Claims before the International Bureau
(1) The applicant shall, after having received the international search report,
be entitled to one opportunity to amend the claims of the international
application by filing amendments with the International Bureau within the
prescribed time limit. He may, at the same time, file a brief statement, as
provided in the Regulations, explaining the amendments and indicating any
impact that such amendments might have on the description and the drawings.
(2) The amendments shall not go beyond the disclosure in the international
application as filed.
(3) If the national law of any designated State permits amendments to go
beyond the said disclosure, failure to comply with paragraph (2) shall have no
consequence in that State.
Article 20
Communication to Designated Offices
(1)(a) The international application, together with the international search
report (including any indication referred to in Article 17(2)(b)) or the
declaration referred to in Article 17(2)(a), shall be communicated to each
designated Office, as provided in the Regulations, unless the designated Office
waives such requirement in its entirety or in part.
(b) The communication shall include the translation (as prescribed) of
the said report or declaration.
(2) If the claims have been amended by virtue of Article 19(1), the
communication shall either contain the full text of the claims both as filed and
as amended or shall contain the full text of the claims as filed and specify the
amendments, and shall include the statement, if any, referred to in Article 19(1).
(3) At the request of the designated Office or the applicant, the International
Searching Authority shall send to the said Office or the applicant, respectively,
copies of the documents cited in the international search report, as provided in
the Regulations.
Article 21
International Publication
(1) The International Bureau shall publish international applications.
(2)(a) Subject to the exceptions provided for in subparagraph (b) and in
Article 64(3), the international publication of the international application shall
be effected promptly after the expiration of 18 months from the priority date of
that application.
(b) The applicant may ask the International Bureau to publish his
international application any time before the expiration of the time limit referred
to in subparagraph (a). The International Bureau shall proceed accordingly, as
provided in the Regulations.
(3) The international search report or the declaration referred to in
Article 17(2)(a) shall be published as prescribed in the Regulations.
(4) The language and form of the international publication and other details
are governed by the Regulations.
(5) There shall be no international publication if the international
application is withdrawn or is considered withdrawn before the technical
preparations for publication have been completed.
(6) If the international application contains expressions or drawings which,
in the opinion of the International Bureau, are contrary to morality or public
order, or if, in its opinion, the international application contains disparaging
statements as defined in the Regulations, it may omit such expressions,
drawings, and statements, from its publications, indicating the place and number
of words or drawings omitted, and furnishing, upon request, individual copies
of the passages omitted.
Article 22
Copy, Translation, and Fee, to Designated Offices
(1) The applicant shall furnish a copy of the international application
(unless the communication provided for in Article 20 has already taken place)
and a translation thereof (as prescribed), and pay the national fee (if any), to each designated Office not later than at the expiration of 301 months from the
priority date. Where the national law of the designated State requires the
indication of the name of and other prescribed data concerning the inventor but
allows that these indications be furnished at a time later than that of the filing of
a national application, the applicant shall, unless they were contained in the
request, furnish the said indications to the national Office of or acting for the
State not later than at the expiration of 301 months from the priority date.
(2) Where the International Searching Authority makes a declaration, under
Article 17(2)(a), that no international search report will be established, the time
limit for performing the acts referred to in paragraph (1) of this Article shall be
the same as that provided for in paragraph (1).
(3) Any national law may, for performing the acts referred to in
paragraphs (1) or (2), fix time limits which expire later than the time limit
provided for in those paragraphs.
Article 23
Delaying of National Procedure
(1) No designated Office shall process or examine the international
application prior to the expiration of the applicable time limit under Article 22.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), any designated Office
may, on the express request of the applicant, process or examine the
international application at any time.
Article 24
Possible Loss of Effect in Designated States
(1) Subject, in case (ii) below, to the provisions of Article 25, the effect of
the international application provided for in Article 11(3) shall cease in any
designated State with the same consequences as the withdrawal of any national
application in that State:
(i) if the applicant withdraws his international application or the
designation of that State;
(ii) if the international application is considered withdrawn by virtue of
Articles 12(3), 14(1)(b), 14(3)(a), or 14(4), or if the designation of that State is
considered withdrawn by virtue of Article 14(3)(b);
(iii) if the applicant fails to perform the acts referred to in Article 22
within the applicable time limit.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), any designated Office
may maintain the effect provided for in Article 11(3) even where such effect is
not required to be maintained by virtue of Article 25(2).
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1 Editor’s Note: The 30-month time limit, as in force from April 1, 2002, does not apply in
respect of any designated Office which has notified the International Bureau of
incompatibility with the national law applied by that Office. The 20-month time limit, as in
force until March 31, 2002, continues to apply after that date in respect of any such designated
Office for as long as Article 22(1), as modified, continues not to be compatible with the
applicable national law. Information received by the International Bureau concerning any
such incompatibility is published in the Gazette and on the WIPO website at:
www.wipo.int/pct/en/texts/reservations/res_incomp.pdf. |
