Source: http://m.epo.org/law-practice/guidelines-pct.html
Timestamp: 2017-08-17 15:19:36
Document Index: 149563695

Matched Legal Cases: ['Art. 5', 'Art. 6', 'Art. 8', 'Art. 17', 'Art. 34', 'Art. 33', 'Art. 33', 'Art. 33', 'Art. 19', 'Art. 34']

By decision of the President of the EPO pursuant to Article 10(2) EPC, the Guidelines for Search and Examination at the EPO as PCT Authority have been amended. As announced in the notice from the EPO dated 1 September 2016 (OJ EPO 2016, A77), they apply as from 1 November 2016.
Part F deals with the requirements which the application must fulfil other than patentability, in particular unity of invention (Rule 13 PCT), sufficiency of disclosure (Art. 5 PCT), clarity (Art. 6 PCT) and the right to priority (Art. 8 PCT).
Part G deals with subject-matter excluded from search (Art. 17(2)(a)(i) and Rule 39 PCT) and examination (Art. 34(4)(a)(i) and Rule 67 PCT), novelty (Art. 33(2) PCT), inventive step (Art. 33(3) PCT) and industrial application (Art. 33(4) PCT).
Part H deals with the requirements relating to amendments and corrections, in particular compliance with Art. 19(2) PCT and Art. 34(2)(b) PCT.
The revised Guidelines for Search and Examination at the EPO as PCT Authority (November 2016) are available online in the EPO's three official languages in both PDF and HTML format.
In the 2016 revision, amendments have been made in all parts, except part A. The major change is the addition of part F.
Important notice: The November 2016 edition of these Guidelines is the only valid official version, and supersedes the November 2015 edition as from 1 November 2016.