Modifications to the Administrative Instructions under the PCT and Certain PCT Forms

Minor modifications have been made, with effect from 1 July 2010, to the Administrative Instructions under the PCT and to certain Forms relating to the receiving Office, the International Searching Authority (also in its function as Authority specified for supplementary search), the International Bureau (IB), and the International Preliminary Examining Authority, most of which are consequential to amendments of the Regulations under the PCT adopted by the PCT Assembly in October 2009. 

The modifications to the Administrative Instructions are as follows:

• Section 411 has been modified in line with the modifications which entered into force on 1 January 2010 to implement PCT Rule 17.1(b-bis), allowing the applicant to request that priority documents be obtained by receiving Offices and the IB from digital libraries; and
• Section 613 has been modified as a consequence of amendments of the Regulations under the PCT (namely, the renumbering of PCT Rule 57.6 to 57.4).

The consolidated text of the Administrative Instructions (PCT/AI/11) as in force from 1 July 2010 is available, in English and French, on the PCT Resources page at, respectively:

http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/texts/index.html and

http://www.wipo.int/pct/fr/texts/index.html

As far as the forms are concerned, PCT/IB/381 (Notification of Refund of Fees concerning Supplementary International Search) has been created, and the following forms have been modified: 

PCT/RO/102       (Notification Concerning Payment of Prescribed Fees)

PCT/RO/147       (Notification Concerning Failure to Forward Record Copy and Search Copy for National Security Reasons)

PCT/IB/301         (Notification of Receipt of Record Copy)

PCT/IB/304         (Notification Concerning Submission, Obtention or Transmittal of Priority Document)

PCT/IB/337         (Notification Concerning Written Opinion of International Searching Authority, Amendments of Claims and Supplementary International Search)

PCT/IB/375         (Supplementary Search Request)

PCT/IB/379         (Notification that Supplementary Search Request is Considered not to Have Been Submitted)

PCT/ISA/220      (Notification of Transmittal of the International Search Report and the Written Opinion of the International Searching  Authority, or the Declaration)

PCT/IPEA/401   (Demand)

PCT/IPEA/407   (Notification that Demand Considered Not to Have Been Submitted)

PCT/IPEA/408   (Written Opinion of the International Preliminary Examining Authority)

PCT/IPEA/409   (International Preliminary Report on Patentability (Chapter II of the Patent Cooperation Treaty)

PCT/SISA/501   (Supplementary International Search Report)

PCT/SISA/507   (Declaration that Supplementary Search Request is Considered not to Have been Submitted)

The modified forms, in PDF and editable PDF formats, where appropriate, are available at: 

http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/forms/index.html

Note that a collection of forms, in English and French, has been prepared containing those PCT forms that were in force until 30 June 2010 and which remain valid for certain international applications filed before 1 July 2010.  They are available on the right-hand side of the above‑mentioned page under the heading “Forms in force until 30 June 2010”.