Administrative Instructions under the Patent Cooperation Treaty

Section 705quater
Processing in Electronic Form of International Applications Filed on Paper

(a)  Where an international application filed on paper is resubmitted by the applicant in electronic form in accordance with Rule 89bis.1(d-ter), the receiving Office, for the purposes of Article 12, shall keep the resubmission as the home copy and transmit copies as the record copy and the search copy.

(b)  Subject to Section 705bis, the original of the international application filed on paper shall be kept, for a period of at least 10 years from the international filing date, by the International Bureau or, where so agreed by the receiving Office and the International Bureau, by the receiving Office on behalf of the International Bureau. The original shall be marked with the words “INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION – ORIGINAL AS FILED ON PAPER (Rule 89bis.1(d-ter))” or their equivalent in the language of publication of the international application at the bottom of the first page of the request and of the first page of the description.19

19.  Editor's Note: In principle, receiving Offices should mark the original at the time of its receipt but they could also mark the original when it is relied upon for the purposes of the correction of the record copy under Section 705bis(d).