WARNING: Although the information which follows was correct at the time of original publication in the PCT Newsletter, some information may no longer be applicable; for example, amendments may have been made to the PCT Regulations and Administrative Instructions, as well as to PCT Forms, since the PCT Newsletter concerned was published; changes to certain fees and references to certain publications may no longer be valid. Wherever there is a reference to a PCT Rule, please check carefully whether the Rule in force at the date of publication of the advice has since been amended.

Managing external signatures for declarations under PCT Rule 4.17

Q: I regularly file PCT applications via ePCT and either include declarations of inventorship under PCT Rule 4.17(iv) at the time of filing or, in order to avoid extra fees when the application already contains at least 30 sheets, I often submit the declarations of inventorship after filing using the corresponding ePCT Action. I find it much easier to prepare the declarations this way as ePCT automatically generates the correct standardized wording, fills in the inventors' details and I can use the option "external signature" so that the inventors can sign the declaration electronically. Now that it is the holiday period, I am concerned that not all the inventors will respond to the external signature request during the seven day period when the link to the request is active. Is there any way of extending the time period within which the inventors must sign?

A: One day before the expiry of a link to an external signature request (that is, seven days after the request is made), a reminder notification is sent by e-mail to both the requester of the external signature and the signatory.

It is not possible to extend the seven day time limit during which the link to an external signature request is active. However, since January of this year, an improved process has been implemented in ePCT and it is now possible to manage each external signature separately without affecting any other inventors' signature already received. This means that even if one inventor's signature request has expired or is about to expire, you can delete the external signature request for only that person and resend a new request to that inventor which will be valid for another seven days. Likewise, if an inventor has a problem receiving e-mails due to an unforeseen event, you can always resend a new external signature request to that inventor when they have regained access to their email account.

When the inventors have signed the declaration, you will be notified of this by e-mail so that you can preview the signed document and submit the ePCT Action to the International Bureau within the time limit under PCT Rule 26ter (16 months from the priority date or before the technical preparations for international publication have been completed). If you miss this time limit you will have the option of submitting the declaration during the national phase. In any event, and although submitting declarations during the international phase is intended to help applicants comply with national phase requirements early on, an applicant does not lose any rights due to not submitting a declaration during the international phase - declarations under PCT Rule 4.17 are optional.

The PCT eServices Help page contains useful information about the external signature function in general at:

www.wipo.int/en/web/epct/learnmore?N=992

For more detailed information on submitting declarations and obtaining the signatures of the inventors for the declaration of inventorship under PCT Rule 4.17 using ePCT, please refer to the "Practical Advice" in PCT Newsletter No. 10/2019.

General information on the filing of declarations under PCT Rule 4.17 is available in the PCT Applicant's Guide, paragraphs 5.074 to 5.083A, and 6.045 to 6.050 at:

www.wipo.int/pct/en/guide/index.html