Adopted on July 14, 2023, by the Assembly of the International Patent Cooperation Union (PCT Union) at its Fifty-Fifth (24th Ordinary) Session held from July 6 to 14, 2023, with effect from January 1, 2026
34.1 Definition
(a) The definitions contained in Article 2(i) and (ii) shall not apply for the purposes of this Rule. For the purposes of this Rule, "patent documents" shall include:
(i) published international applications,
(ii) published regional patents,
(iii) published national patents issued by a national Office or its legal predecessor in and after 1920,
(iv) utility certificates issued by France in and after 1920,
(v) inventors' certificates issued by the former Soviet Union, and
(vi) applications for any of the forms of protection referred to in items (ii) to (v) above, published in and after 1920.
(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (c), the documentation referred to in Article 15(4) ("minimum documentation") shall consist of:
(i) the "patent documents" as specified in paragraph (a) that have been made available by or on behalf of the relevant national Office or its legal successor or, as the case may be, by the International Bureau in accordance with the technical and accessibility requirements specified in the Administrative Instructions and, where applicable, with the provisions of Rule 36.1(ii), and
(ii) such other published items of non-patent literature as the International Searching Authorities shall agree upon and which shall be published in a list by the International Bureau when agreed upon for the first time and whenever changed.
(c) In addition to consulting the required documentation set forth in paragraph (b), the International Searching Authority should also preferably consult utility model documents consisting of the utility models issued, and the utility model applications published, in and after 1920 by a national Office or its legal predecessor, provided that the said utility model documents have been made available by or on behalf of the relevant national Office or its legal successor in accordance with the technical and accessibility requirements specified in the Administrative Instructions.
(d) Each national Office making its patent documents and, where applicable, its utility model documents available in accordance with the requirements specified in the Administrative Instructions shall:
(i) notify the International Bureau accordingly,
(ii) make newly published patent documents and, where applicable, utility model documents available regularly, and
(iii) provide to the International Bureau at least annually an authority file, detailing the current extent of the available patent documents and, where applicable, utility model documents in accordance with the Administrative Instructions.
(e) The International Bureau shall validate the availability of the patent and utility model documents notified in accordance with paragraph (d) and publish in the Gazette details of the documents concerned and the date from which they will become a part of the minimum documentation. The International Bureau shall administer a repository containing the authority files referred to in paragraph (d)(iii) as specified in the Administrative Instructions.
(f) Where an application is published more than once, each International Searching Authority shall be obliged to keep in its documentation only the first published version if none of the subsequently published versions contains additional matter.
(g) For the purposes of this Rule, applications and patents which have only been laid open for public inspection are not considered published applications and patents.
Rule 36
Minimum Requirements for International Searching Authorities
36.1 Definition of Minimum Requirements
The minimum requirements referred to in Article 16(3)(c) shall be the following:
(i) the national Office or intergovernmental organization must have at least 100 full-time employees with sufficient technical qualifications to carry out searches in the required technical fields;
(ii) that Office or organization must make available for consultation as part of the minimum documentation referred to in Rule 34, in accordance with the requirements specified in the Administrative Instructions, any patent issued, and any patent application published, by it, and where applicable by its legal predecessor(s);
(iii) that Office or organization must have in its possession, or maintain access to, at least the minimum documentation referred to in Rule 34, for search purposes in accordance with the Administrative Instructions;
(iv) that Office or organization must have in place a quality management system and internal review arrangements in accordance with the common rules of international search;
(v) that Office or organization must hold an appointment as an International Preliminary Examining Authority.
Rule 63
Minimum Requirements for International Preliminary Examining Authorities
63.1 Definition of Minimum Requirements
The minimum requirements referred to in Article 32(3) shall be the following:
(i) the national Office or intergovernmental organization must have at least 100 full-time employees with sufficient technical qualifications to carry out examinations in the required technical fields;
(ii) that Office or organization must make available for consultation as part of the minimum documentation referred to in Rule 34, in accordance with the requirements specified in the Administrative Instructions, any patent issued, and any patent application published, by it, and where applicable by its legal predecessor(s);
(iii) that Office or organization must have at its ready disposal at least the minimum documentation referred to in Rule 34, properly arranged for examination purposes;
(iv) that Office or organization must have in place a quality management system and internal review arrangements in accordance with the common rules of international preliminary examination;
(v) that Office or organization must hold an appointment as an International Searching Authority.
I hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of the original text, in English, of the amendments to the Regulations under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) adopted on July 14, 2023, by the Assembly of the International Patent Cooperation Union (PCT Union) at its fifty fifth (24th ordinary) session held from July 6 to 14, 2023, with effect from January 1, 2026.
For the Director General,
Anna Morawiec Mansfield
Legal Counsel
World Intellectual Property Organization
November 9, 2023
1. The amendments to Rules 34, 36 and 63 shall enter into force on January 1, 2026.
The following Understanding concerns the interpretation of Rules 36.1(ii) and 63.1(ii):
In adopting the amendments to Rules 36.1 and 63.1 setting out the minimum requirements referred to in Articles 16(3)(c) and 32(3), respectively, the Assembly agreed that, in the case of an intergovernmental organization that has been established for the collaboration between national Offices of the States that are members of that intergovernmental organization and does not itself issue patents or publish patent applications, the requirements in Rules 36.1(ii) and 63.1(ii) for the organization are that the national Offices of those States make available for consultation, as part of the minimum documentation, any patent issued, and any patent application published, by them and, where applicable, by their legal predecessor(s).