PCT Working Group

Purpose of Group

At its 36th session, the PCT Assembly established a Working Group to do preparatory work for matters which require submission to the Assembly. Most commonly, this involves proposals for amendment of the Regulations under the PCT, but may include a wide variety of matters of interest to the PCT Assembly.

Electronic Forum

A notification service is provided, giving e-mail updates to interested persons when new information becomes available.

Proposals to Assembly: Further Changes and Transitional Arrangements

The PCT Working Group, at its second session held from May 4 to 8, 2009, agreed on a number of proposed amendments of the Regulations under the PCT, proposed modifications of the Directives by the Assembly relating to the establishment of equivalent amounts of certain fees, and proposed amendments of Article 11 of the Agreements between the International Bureau and Offices in relation to their functioning as International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authorities, with a view to their submission to the Assembly for consideration at its next session, to be held in September/October 2009 (see the Summary by the Chair, document PCT/WG/2/13, and the Working Group’s draft report, document PCT/WG/2/14 Prov.).

The Working Group also agreed that a number of matters should be the subject of further consultation via the Working Group’s electronic forum. This paper (available in Word and PDF formats) sets out the Secretariat’s proposals on those further matters. Comments are invited by July 6, 2009 (preferably submitted by e-mail to pct.wg@wipo.int), following which the documents for submission to the Assembly will be finalized.

Making Comments and Proposals

Comments on any relevant issues for posting on this site may be submitted by States and organizations participating in the Working Group, by e-mail sent to WIPO's secretariat at pct.wg@wipo.int.  Interested persons may browse comments posted on the forum and/or subscribe to the forum's e-mail notification service in order to be informed by e-mail when new documents or comments become available.