PCT International Search and Preliminary Examination Guidelines
PART II THE INTERNATIONAL APPLICATION
Chapter 5 Claims
5.43 The claims "shall be fully supported by the description." This means that there must be a basis in the description for the subject matter of every claim and that the scope of the claims must not be broader than is justified by the description and drawings.
5.44 As a general rule, a claim is regarded as supported by the description unless, exceptionally, there are well-founded reasons for believing that the person skilled in the art would be unable, on the basis of the information given in the application as filed, to extend the particular teaching of the description to the whole of the field claimed by using routine methods of experimentation or analysis. Support must, however, relate to the features of the claimed invention; vague statements or assertions having no technical or other relevant content provide no basis. The examiner should raise an objection of lack of support only if there are well-founded reasons. Where an objection is raised, the reasons, where possible, should be supported specifically by a published document.