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.

Paragraph numbering versus line numbering

Q: The requirements at my national office have recently changed so that the text part of national applications filed with it require paragraph numbering instead of line numbering, and I don't think that there have been any equivalent changes in the PCT rules. If the description and claims of a national application include paragraph numbering, would the same formatting be accepted under the PCT if that text was later filed as a PCT application?

A: As you correctly stated, there have not been any recent rule changes in respect of the formatting of the international application. However, under the PCT Regulations, there should be no problem with the text in your international application being numbered by paragraph, rather than by lines. Although PCT Rule 11.8(a) strongly recommends the numbering of "every fifth line of each sheet of the description, and of each sheet of claims," such line numbering is not a mandatory requirement.

In any event, the physical requirements referred to in PCT Rule 11 should be checked only to the extent that compliance therewith is necessary for the purpose of reasonable uniform international publication (see PCT Rule 26.3). Lines may thus be numbered according to a sequence different from that recommended in PCT Rule 11.8(a), and if they are, you should not receive any invitation from the receiving Office to correct a defect in the international application in respect of that matter.