Patent Cooperation Treaty; with Regulations

Patent Cooperation Treaty; with Regulations in the United States

RULE 8

THE ABSTRACT

8.1 Contents and Form of the Abstract

(a) The abstract shall consist of the following:

(i) a summary of the disclosure as contained in the description, the
claims, and any drawings; the summary shall indicate the technical field to
which the invention pertains and shall be drafted in a way which allows the
clear understanding of the technical problem, the gist of the solution of
that problem through the invention, and the principal use or uses of the
invention;

(ii) where applicable, the chemical formula which, among all the
formulae contained in the international application, best characterizes the
invention.

(b) The abstract shall be as concise as the disclosure permits (preferably
50 to 150 words if it is in English or when translated into English).

(c) The abstract shall not contain statements on the alleged merits or
value of the claimed invention or on its speculative application.

(d) Each main technical feature mentioned in the abstract and illustrated
by a drawing in the international application shall be followed by a
reference sign, placed between parentheses.

8.2 Failure to Suggest a Figure to be Published with the Abstract

If the applicant fails to make the indication referred to in Rule
3.3(a)(iii), or if the International Searching Authority finds that a
figure or figures other than that figure or those figures suggested by the
applicant would, among all the figures of all the drawings, better
characterize the invention, it shall indicate the figure or figures which
it so considers. Publications by the International Bureau shall then use
the figure or figures so indicated by the International Searching
Authority. Otherwise, the figure or figures suggested by the applicant
shall be used in the said publications.

8.3 Guiding Principles in Drafting

The abstract shall be so drafted that it can efficiently serve as a
scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art, especially
by assisting the scientist, engineer or researcher in formulating an
opinion on whether there is a need for consulting the international
application itself,

RULE 9

EXPRESSIONS, ETC., NOT TO BE USED

9.1 Definition

The international application shall not contain:

(i) expressions or drawings contrary to morality;

(ii) expressions or drawings contrary to public order;

(iii) statements disparaging the products or processes of any
particular person other than the applicant, or the merits or validity of
applications or patents of any such person (mere comparisons with the prior
art shall not be considered disparaging per se);

(iv) any statement or other matter obviously irrelevant or
unnecessary under the circumstances.

9.2 Noting of Lack of Compliance

The receiving Office and the International Searching Authority may note
lack of compliance with the prescriptions of Rule 9.1 and may suggest to
the applicant that he voluntarily correct his international application
accordingly. If the lack of compliance was noted by the receiving Office,
that Office shall inform the competent International Searching Authority
and the International Bureau; if the lack of compliance was noted by the
International Searching Authority, that Authority shall inform the
receiving Office and the International Bureau.

9.3 Reference to Article 21(6)

“Disparaging statements,” referred to in Article 21(6), shall have the
meaning as defined in Rule 9.1 (iii).

RULE 10

TERMINOLOGY AND SIGNS

10.1 Terminology and Signs

(a) Units of weights and measures shall be expressed in terms of the metric
system, or also expressed in such terms if first expressed in terms of a
different system.

(b) Temperatures shall be expressed in degrees centigrade, or also
expressed in degrees centigrade if first expressed in a different manner.

(c) Density shall be expressed in metric units.

(d) For indications of heat, energy, light, sound, and magnetism, as well
as for mathematical formulae and electrical units, the rules of
international practice shall be observed; for chemical formulae, the
symbols, atomic weights, and molecular formulae, in general use, shall be
employed,

(e) In general, only such technical terms, signs and symbols should be used
as are generally accepted in the art.

(f) When the international application or its translation is in English or
Japanese, the beginning of any decimal fraction shall be marked by a
period, whereas, when the international application or its translation is
in a language other than English or Japanese, it shall be marked by a
comma.

10.2 Consistency

The terminology and the signs shall be consistent throughout the
international application.

RULE 11

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS
OF THE INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION

11.1 Number of Copies

(a) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (b), the international
application and each of the documents referred to in the check list (Rule
3.3(a)(ii)) shall be filed in one copy.

(b) Any receiving Office may require that the international application and
any of the documents referred to in the check list (Rule 3.3(a)(ii)),
except the receipt for the fees paid or the check for the payment of the
fees, be filed in two or three copies. In that case, the receiving Office
shall be responsible for verifying the identity of the second and the third
copies with the record copy.

11.2 Fitness for Reproduction

(a) All elements of the international application (i.e., the request, the
description, the claims, the drawings, and the abstract) shall be so
presented as to admit of direct reproduction by photography, electrostatic
processes, photo offset, and microfilming, in any number of copies.

(b) All sheets shall be free from creases and cracks; they shall not be
folded.

(c) Only one side of each sheet shall be used.

(d) Subject to Rule 11.13(j), each sheet shall be used in an upright
position (i.e., the short sides at the top and bottom).

11.3 Material to be Used

All elements of the international application shall be on paper which shall
be flexible, strong, white, smooth, non-shiny, and durable.
11.4 Separate Sheets, Etc.

(a) Each element (request, description, claims, drawings, abstract) of the
international application shall commence on a new sheet.

(b) All sheets of the international application shall be so connected that
they can be easily turned when consulted, and easily separated and joined
again if they have been separated for reproduction purposes.

11.5 Size of Sheets

The size of the sheets shall be A4 (29.7 cm x 21 cm). However, any
receiving Office may accept international applications on sheets of other
sizes provided that the record copy, as transmitted to the International
Bureau, and, if the competent International Searching Authority so desires,
the search copy, shall be of A4 size.

11. 6 Margins

(a) The minimum margins of the sheets containing the request, the
description, the claims, and the abstract, shall be as follows:

– top of first sheet, except that of the request: 8 cm
– top of other sheets: 2 cm
– left side: 2.5 cm
– right side: 2 cm
– bottom: 2 cm

(b) The recommended maximum, for the margins provided for in paragraph (a),
is as follows:

– top of first sheet, except that of the request: 9 cm
– top of other sheets: 4 cm
– left side: 4 cm
– right side: 3 cm
– bottom: 3 cm

(c) On sheets containing drawings, the surface usable shall not exceed 26.2
cm x 17.0 cm. The sheets shall not contain frames around the usable or used
surface. The minimum margins shall be as follows:

– top: 2.5 cm
– left side: 2.5 cm
– right side: 1.5 cm
– bottom: 1.0 cm

(d) The margins referred to in paragraphs (a) to (c) apply to A4-size
sheets, so that, even if the receiving Office accepts other sizes, the
A4-size record copy and, when so required, the A4-size search copy shall
leave the aforesaid margins.

(e) The margins of the international application, when submitted, must be
completely blank.

11.7 Numbering of Sheets

(a) All the sheets contained in the international application shall be
numbered in consecutive arabic numerals.

(b) The numbers shall be placed at the top of the sheet, in the middle, but
not in the margin.

11.8 Numbering of Lines

(a) It is strongly recommended to number every fifth line of each sheet of
the description, and of each sheet of claims.

(b) The numbers should appear on the left side, to the right of the margin.

11.9 Writing of Text Matter

(a) The request, the description, the claims and the abstract shall be
typed or printed.

(b) Only graphic symbols and characters, chemical or mathematical formulae,
and certain characters in the Japanese language may, when necessary, be
written by hand or drawn.

(c) The typing shall be 1 1/2-spaced.

(d) All text matter shall be in characters the capital letters of which are
not less than 0.21 cm high, and shall be in a dark, indelible color,
satisfying the requirements specified in Rule 11.2.

(e) As far as the spacing of the typing and the size of the characters are
concerned, paragraphs (c) and (d) shall not apply to texts in the Japanese
language.

11.10 Drawings, Formulae, and Tables, in Text Matter

(a) The request, the description, the claims and the abstract shall not
contain drawings.

(b) The description, the claims and the abstract may contain chemical or
mathematical formulae.

(c) The description and the abstract may contain tables; any claim may
contain tables only if the subject matter of the claim makes the use of
tables desirable.

11.11 Words in Drawings

(a) The drawings shall not contain text matter, except a single word or
words, when absolutely indispensable, such as “water,” “steam,” “open,”
“closed,” “section on AB,” and, in the case of electric circuits and block
schematic or flow sheet diagrams, a few short catch words indispensable for
understanding.

(b) Any words used shall be so placed that, if translated, they may be
pasted over without interfering with any lines of the drawings.

11.12 Alterations, Etc.

Each sheet shall be reasonably free from erasures and shall be free from
alterations, overwritings, and interlineations. Non-compliance with this
Rule may be authorized, in exceptional cases, if the authenticity of the
content is not in question and the requirements for good reproduction are
not in jeopardy.


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