2.20.10.1.2A Determining Whether Article 19 and Article 34 Amendments are Considered During Examination

Date Published

Note: The information in this part only applies to PCT applications filed on or after 15 April 2013.  For all other PCT applications, see 2.20.10.1.2 Determining Whether Article 19 and Article 34 Amendments are Considered During Examination.

In this topic:

This section outlines the procedure for retrieving the IPRPII (to determine whether Article 34 amendments exist) and then the steps examiners should follow to determine whether Article 19 and Article 34 amendments are to be considered during examination (including expedited examination and examination of voluntary sec 104 amendments before acceptance).

Retrieval of IPRPII

Note: If there is no indication that a demand was filed before the national phase entry date, examination can proceed without further consideration of whether there are any Article 34 amendments.  However, examiners should still consider whether there are Article 19 amendments (see 2.20.10.3 Article 19 Amendments).

In certain circumstances where there is no IPRPII on file, COG will issue a notice requesting that an applicant provide a copy of the document (sec 45(1A) and reg 3.17B).  In response, the applicant may:

  • provide a copy of the IPRPII; or
  • advise that:

a. no demand for international preliminary examination was filed; or

b. no Article 34 amendments were made; or

c. the demand for international preliminary examination was filed, or the IPRPII was established, after national phase entry; or

  • elect to abandon any Article 34 amendments.

Note: Where situation a. applies, there are no Article 34 amendments to consider.  Where situation c. applies, any Article 34 amendments will not form part of the specification, unless pursued under sec 104.

Where the applicant fails to comply with the request, COG will refer the matter to Patent Oppositions.

Where a notice does not appear to have been issued and there is no IPRPI/IPRPII on file, and the document is not available on Patentscope (or INTESS, if IP Australia was the IPEA), and a demand has been filed before national phase entry, then examiners should keep the Exam Request task and email COG requesting them to issue a notice as above.  Examination should not proceed until the applicant has replied or the matter considered by Patent Oppositions.  

Determining Whether Article 19 and/or Article 34 Amendments are to be Considered During Examination

The following procedure should be used to determine whether Article 19 and/or Article 34 amendments are to be considered during examination.

  1. Are there Article 19 amendments?

If the amendments do not form part of the specification, then they are excluded from examination.  Go to Step 2.

Note: If examiners have reason to believe that there are Article 19 amendments (for example, as indicated on the front page of the PCT pamphlet) and these are not on file, they should first check Patentscope.  (Article 19 amendments are filed directly with WIPO and therefore will not be available on INTESS).  If the amendments are available, a copy should be downloaded and attached to the case file.  If the amendments are not available, examiners should contact COG and request that a copy be obtained from WIPO.  Examination should not proceed until the amendments have been received.

2. Is there an IPRPI or IPRPII on the PAMS case file?

2a.  Yes

  • For an IPRPI there are no Article 34 amendments to consider, proceed with examination.
  • If an IPRPII has been established and there are no Article 34 amendments, proceed with examination (see also note below).
  • If an IPRPII has been established and there are Article 34 amendments, go to Step 3.

2b  No

  • If there is no IPRPI/IPRPII on the PAMS case file and the applicant has indicated that there are no Article 34 amendments to consider (see Retrieval of IPRPII above), proceed with examination.

Note: If examiners have reason to believe that there are Article 34 amendments (for example, as indicated in Box I of the IPRPII) and these are not on file, they should check Patentscope or, if IP Australia was the IPEA, they should also check INTESS.  If the amendments are available from either of these sources, then a copy should be attached to the PAMS case file; proceed to Step 3.  If the amendments are not available from either of these sources, examiners should contact COG and request that a copy be obtained from WIPO.  Examination should not proceed until the amendments have been received.

3. Was the demand filed before the National Phase Entry (NPE) Date?

  • Yes – Go to Step 4.
  • No – Examine excluding Article 34 amendments (see also note below).

4. Was the IPRPII established before the NPE date?

  • Yes – Examine including Article 34 amendments.
  • No – Examine excluding Article 34 amendments (see also note below).

Note: Where Article 34 amendments do not form part of the specification and examiners consider their incorporation was intended and will facilitate examination, they may phone the attorney to discuss options for inclusion of the amendments.

Determination of Dates

To determine the date of:

  • National Phase Entry – see the ‘Nat. Phase’ Date on the Ecase Summary screen in PAMS.
  • Filing of the demand – see either the ‘Date of submission of the demand’ on the front page of the IPRPII or 2.20.10.1.3 The IASR.
  • IPRPII establishment – see ‘Date of completion of this report’ on the front page of the IPRPII.