6.9.3 Authorised Officer

Also in this Chapter:

• 6.9.1 Current Allocation of PCT Related Duties
• 6.9.2 International Online Specialists​​​​​​​
• 6.9.4 Minimum Levels of Responsibility
• 6.9.5 Examiners with Foreign Language Capabilities
• 6.9.6 Current Status of APO AS AN RO ISA and IPEA

Key Legislation:

Administrative Instructions under the PCT:

• s514 Authorized Officer
• s612 Authorized Officer

Regulations under the PCT:

• Rule 43.8 Authorized Officer
• Rule 70.14 Authorized Officer

The responsibility for this function is detailed in the earlier parts of this volume. The APO examiner levels for the most commonly met responsibilities are summarized below.

They are Minimum Levels of Responsibility (6.9.4 Minimum Levels of Responsibility) and represent no impediment to section practices such as actually performing or reviewing such tasks at a lower level e.g. for development purposes or at a higher level e.g. for performance feedback purposes, whether periodic or continuous.  The Administrative Instructions at Section 514 (ISA) and 612 (IPEA) establish that the Authorised Officer means the person who actually performs the work or another person who was responsible for its supervision. Sections are to ensure that adequate quality control mechanisms are in place in relation to international actions. The fact that a person who performs the work is also responsible for it does not exempt them from being subject to quality control.

PCT Rules 43.8 (ISR) and 70.14 (IPRP) require that the responsible officer will be indicated in the reports. There is no requirement for the reports to be signed and Australian practice is not to sign (see the Annexes International Searching and International Examination).

Where the search, or examining, examiner is the responsible examiner, he or she will indicate as the date of completion of the ISR or IPRP, the date of its actual completion.

Where the search, or examining, examiner is not authorised then the day upon which the responsible examiner concurs with the search examiner is to be indicated as the date of completion.

The date of completion of the IPRP should not be after the date "by which the IPRP will be established" as shown on the IPEO first sheet, if a preceding opinion was issued.

It is to be noted that OEP staff are the authorised officer for a request for restoration of priority under PCT.