Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)

Article 12
Transmittal of the International Application to the International Bureau and the International Searching Authority

(1)  One copy of the international application shall be kept by the receiving Office ("home copy"), one copy ("record copy") shall be transmitted to the International Bureau, and another copy ("search copy") shall be transmitted to the competent International Searching Authority referred to in Article 16, as provided in the Regulations.

(2)  The record copy shall be considered the true copy of the international application.

(3)  The international application shall be considered withdrawn if the record copy has not been received by the International Bureau within the prescribed time limit.