Patent Cooperation Treaty; with Regulations

Patent Cooperation Treaty; with Regulations in the United States

RULE 4

THE REQUEST (CONTENTS)

4.1 Mandatory and Optional Contents; Signature

(a) The request shall contain:
(i) a petition,
(ii) the title of the invention,
(iii) indications concerning the applicant and the agent, if there is an
agent,
(iv) the designation of States,
(v) indications concerning the inventor where the national law of at
least one of the designated States requires that the name of the inventor
be furnished at the time of filing a national application.

(b) The request shall, where applicable, contain:
(i) a priority claim,
(ii) a reference to any earlier international search or to any earlier
international-type search,
(iii) choices of certain kinds of protection,
(iv) an indication that the applicant wishes to obtain a regional patent
and the names of the designated States for which he wishes to obtain such a
patent,
(v) a reference to a parent application or parent patent.

(c) The request may contain indications concerning the inventor where the
national law of none of the designated States requires that the name of the
inventor be furnished at the time of filing a national application.

(d) The request shall be signed.

4.2 The Petition

The petition shall be to the following effect and shall preferably be
worded as follows: “The undersigned requests that the present international
application be processed according to the Patent Cooperation Treaty.”

4.3 Title of the Invention

The title of the invention shall be short (preferably from two to seven
words when in English or translated into English) and precise.

4.4 Names and Addresses

(a) Names of natural persons shall be indicated by the person’s family name
and given name(s), the family name being indicated before the given
name(s).

(b) Names of legal entities shall be indicated by their full, official
designations.

(c) Addresses shall be indicated in such a way as to satisfy the customary
requirements for prompt postal delivery at the indicated address and, in
any case, shall consist of all the relevant administrative units up to, and
including, the house number, if any. Where the national law of the
designated State does not require the indication of the house number,
failure to indicate such number shall have no effect in that State. It is
recommended to indicate any telegraphic and teletype address and telephone
number.

(d) For each applicant, inventor, or agent, only one address may be
indicated.

4.5 The Applicant

(a) The request shall indicate the name, address, nationality and residence
of the applicant or, if there are several applicants, of each of them.

(b) The applicant’s nationality shall be indicated by the name of the State
of which he is a national.

(c) The applicant’s residence shall be indicated by the name of the State
of which he is a resident.

4.6 The Inventor

(a) Where Rule 4.1(a)(v) applies, the request shall indicate the name and
address of the inventor or, if there are several inventors, of each of
them.

(b) If the applicant is the inventor, the request, in lieu of the
indication under paragraph (a), shall contain a statement to that effect or
shall repeat the applicant’s name in the space reserved for indicating the
inventor.

(c) The request may, for different designated States, indicate different
persons as inventors where, in this respect, the requirements of the
national laws of the designated States are not the same. In such a case,
the request shall contain a separate statement for each designated State or
group of States in which a particular person, or the same person, is to be
considered the inventor, or in which particular persons, or the same
persons, are to be considered the inventors.

4.7 The Agent

If agents are designated, the request shall so indicate, and shall state
their names and addresses.

4.8 Representation of Several Applicants Not Having a Common Agent

(a) If there is more than one applicant and the request does not refer to
an agent representing all the applicants (“a common agent”), the request
shall designate one of the applicants who is entitled to file an
international application according to Article 9 as their common
representative.

(b) If there is more than one applicant and the request does not refer to
an agent representing all the applicants and it does not comply with the
requirement of designating one of the applicants as provided in paragraph
(a), the applicant first named in the request who is entitled to file an
international application according to Article 9 shall be considered the
common representative.

4.9 Designation of States

Contracting States shall be designated in the request by their names.

4.10 Priority Claim

(a) The declaration referred to in Article 8(1) shall be made in the
request; it shall consist of a statement to the effect that the priority of
an earlier application is claimed and shall indicate:

(i) When the earlier application is not a regional or an
international application, the country in which it was filed; when the
earlier application is a regional or an international application, the
country or countries for which it was filed,

(ii) the date on which it was filed,

(iii) the number under which it was filed, and

(iv) when the earlier application is a regional or an international
application, the national Office or intergovernmental organization with
which it was filed.

(b) If the request does not indicate both

(i) when the earlier application is not a regional or an
international application, the country in which it was filed; when the
earlier application is a regional or an international application, at least
one country for which it was filed, and

(ii) the date on which it was filed,

the priority claim shall, for the purposes of the procedure under the
Treaty, be considered not to have been made.

(c) If the application number of the earlier application is not indicated
in the request but is furnished by the applicant to the International
Bureau prior to the expiration of the 16th month from the priority date, it
shall be considered by all designated States to have been furnished in
time. If it is furnished after the expiration of that time limit, the
International Bureau shall inform the applicant and the designated Offices
of the date on which the said number was furnished to it. The International
Bureau shall indicate that date in the international publication of the
international application, or, if, at the time of the international
publication, the said number has not been furnished to it, shall indicate
that fact in the international publication.
(d) If the filing date of the earlier application as indicated in the
request precedes the international filing date by more than one year, the
receiving Office, or, if the receiving Office has failed to do so, the
International Bureau, shall invite the applicant to ask either for the
cancellation of the declaration made under Article 8(1) or, if the date of
the earlier application was indicated erroneously, for the correction of
the date so indicated. If the applicant fails to act accordingly within 1
month from the date of the invitation, the declaration made under Article
8(1) shall be cancelled ex officio. The receiving Office effecting the
correction or cancellation shall notify the applicant accordingly and, if
copies of the international application have already been sent to the
International Bureau and the International Searching Authority, that Bureau
and that Authority. If the correction or cancellation is effected by the
International Bureau, the latter shall notify the applicant and the
International Searching Authority accordingly.

(e) Where the priorities of several earlier applications are claimed, the
provisions of paragraphs (a) to (d) shall apply to each of them.

4.11 Reference to Earlier International or International-Type Search

If an international or international-type search has been requested on an
application under Article 15(5), the request may state that fact and
identify the application (or its translation, as the case may be) by
country, date and number, and the request for the said search by date and,
if available, number.

4.12 Choice of Certain Kinds of Protection

(a) If the applicant wishes his international application to be treated, in
any designated State, as an application not for a patent but for the grant
of any of the other kinds of protection specified in Article 43, he shall
so indicate in the request. For the purposes of this paragraph, Article
2(ii) shall not apply.

(b) In the case provided for in Article 44, the applicant shall indicate
the two kinds of protection sought, or, if one of two kinds of protection
is primarily sought, he shall indicate which kind is sought primarily and
which kind is sought subsidiarily.

4.13 Identification of Parent Application or Parent Grant

If the applicant wishes his international application to be treated, in any
designated State, as an application for a patent or certificate of
addition, inventor’s certificate of addition, or utility certificate of
addition, he shall identify the parent application or the parent patent,
parent inventor’s certificate, or parent utility certificate to which the
patent or certificate of addition, inventor’s certificate of addition, or
utility certificate of addition, if granted, relates. For the purposes of
this paragraph, Article 2(ii) shall not apply.

4.14 Continuation or Continuation in Part

If the applicant wishes his international application to be treated, in any
designated State, as an application for a continuation or a
continuation-in-part of an earlier application, he shall so indicate in the
request and shall identify the parent application involved.

4.15 Signature

The request shall be signed by the applicant.

4.16 Transliteration or Translation of Certain Words

(a) Where any name or address is written in characters other than those of
the Latin alphabet, the same shall also be indicated in characters of the
Latin alphabet either as a mere transliteration or through translation into
English. The applicant shall decide which words will be merely
transliterated and which words will be so translated.

(b) The name of any country written in characters other than those of the
Latin alphabet shall also be indicated in English.

4.17 No Additional Matter

(a) The request shall contain no matter other than that specified in Rules
4.1 to 4.16.

(b) If the request contains matter other than that specified in Rule 4.1 to
4.16, the receiving Office shall ex officio delete the additional matter.


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