Administrative Instructions under the Patent Cooperation Treaty

PART 7
INSTRUCTIONS RELATING TO THE FILING AND PROCESSING
IN ELECTRONIC FORM OF INTERNATIONAL APPLICATIONS

Section 701
Abbreviated Expressions

For the purposes of this Part and Annex F, unless the contrary clearly follows from the wording, the nature of the provision or the context:

(i) "electronic package" means a package of one or more electronic files assembled for the purposes of transmission of one or more documents in electronic form;⁵

(ii) "electronic document format" means the presentation or arrangement of the information in a document in electronic form;

(iii) "means of transmittal," in connection with a document in electronic form, means the manner in which a document is transmitted, for example, by electronic means or physical means;

(iv) "electronic signature" means information in electronic form which is attached to, or logically associated with, a document in electronic form, which may be used to identify the signer and which indicates the signer's approval of the content of the document;

(v) "basic common standard" means the basic common standard for electronic filing of international applications provided for in Annex F;

(vi) "communication" of an international application or other document has the same meaning as in Rule 89bis.3;

(vii) words and expressions whose meanings are explained in Annex F have the same meanings in this Part.