Administrative Instructions under the Patent Cooperation Treaty

Section 710
Notification and Publication of Receiving Offices'
Requirements and Practices

(a)  A notification by a receiving Office to the International Bureau under Rule 89bis.1(d) and Section 703(a) that it is prepared to receive international applications in electronic form shall indicate, where applicable:

(i) the electronic document formats (including, where applicable, the versions of such electronic document formats), means of transmittal, types of electronic packages, electronic filing software and types of electronic signature specified by it under Section 703(b)(i) to (iv) and (c), and any options specified by it under the basic common standard;

(ii) the conditions, rules and procedures relating to electronic receipt, including hours of operation, choices for processes to verify or acknowledge receipt, choices for electronic communication of invitations and notifications, any methods of online payment, details concerning any help desks, electronic and software requirements and other administrative matters related to the filing in electronic form of international applications and related documents;

(iii) the kinds of documents which may be transmitted to or by the Office in electronic form;

(iv) whether and under what conditions the Office accepts the filing under Section 706(a) and (f), of documents in pre-conversion formats and the electronic document format(s) (including, where applicable, the versions of such electronic document format(s)) accepted by it under that Section;

(v) procedures for notification of applicants and procedures which applicants may follow as alternatives when the electronic systems of the Office are not available;

(vi) the certification authorities that are accepted by the Office, and the electronic addresses of the certificate policies under which certificates are issued;

(vii) the procedures relating to access to the files of international applications filed or stored in electronic form.

(b)  The receiving Office shall notify the International Bureau of any change in the matters previously indicated by it in a notification under paragraph (a) of this Section.

(c)  The International Bureau shall promptly publish in the Gazette any notification received by it under paragraph (a) or (b) of this Section.

(d)  The effective date of any change notified under paragraph (b) shall be as specified by the receiving Office in the notification, provided that any change which restricts filing options shall not be effective earlier than two months after the date of publication of the notification of the change in the Gazette.