Acceptance by receiving Offices of documents in pre-conversion format (Section 706)
Under Section 706 of the Administrative Instructions under the PCT, the receiving Office may permit the applicant, when filing an international application electronically, to also submit the document in the original electronic format from which the international application has been converted ("pre-conversion document"), so that if the international application as filed is later found to contain errors due to the conversion, the pre-conversion document may be relied upon to correct the errors. The table below sets out the respective practices of the receiving Offices that have been notified to the International Bureau under Section 710(a)(iv).
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| AL |
Albania |
Yes |
Any format |
| AP |
African Regional Intellectual Property Organization |
Yes |
Any format |
| AT |
Austria |
Yes |
Any format |
| AU |
Australia |
Yes |
Any format |
| AZ |
Azerbaijan |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| BG |
Bulgaria |
Yes |
Any format |
| BN |
Brunei Darussalam |
Yes |
Any format |
| BR |
Brazil |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| CA |
Canada |
Yes |
Any format |
| CH |
Switzerland |
Yes |
Any format |
| CL |
Chile |
Yes |
Any format |
| CN |
China |
Yes |
Any format |
| CO |
Colombia |
Yes |
Any format |
| CR |
Costa Rica |
Yes |
Any format |
| CU |
Cuba |
Yes |
Any format |
| CV |
Cabo Verde |
Yes |
Any format |
| CZ |
Czechia |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| DE |
Germany |
No |
Not applicable |
| DJ |
Djibouti |
Yes |
Any format |
| DK |
Denmark |
Yes |
Any format |
| DO |
Dominican Republic |
Yes |
Any format |
| DZ |
Algeria |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| EA |
Eurasian Patent Organization |
Yes |
Any format. The files should be in ZIP format and contain texts either in ASCII plain text or in any other commonly known format. |
| EC |
Ecuador |
Yes |
Any format |
| EE |
Estonia |
Yes |
Any format |
| EG |
Egypt |
Yes |
Any format |
| EP |
European Patent Organization |
Yes |
The files should be archived in ZIP format and contain either plain ASCII text or be created with one of the following word processing programs:
- Microsoft Word 97 and later releases
- Corel WordPerfect 6.1, 8 & 10 and later releases
- Writer of OpenOffice 2.0 and later releases (including the corresponding StarOffice products).
|
| ES |
Spain |
Yes |
Any format. The files should be archived in ZIP format. |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| FI |
Finland |
Yes |
Any format. The files should be in ZIP format and contain texts either in ASCII plain text or in any other commonly known format. |
| FR |
France |
Yes |
Not specified |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| GB |
United Kingdom |
Yes |
Any format |
| GE |
Georgia |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| HR |
Croatia |
Yes |
Any format |
| HU |
Hungary |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| IB |
World Intellectual Property Organization |
Yes |
Any format |
| ID |
Indonesia |
Yes |
Any format |
| IE |
Ireland |
Yes |
Any format |
| IL |
Israel |
Yes |
Any format |
| IN |
India |
Yes |
Any format |
| IQ |
Iraq |
Yes |
Any format |
| IR |
Iran (Islamic Republic of) |
Yes |
Any format |
| IS |
Iceland |
Yes |
Any format |
| IT |
Italy |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| JM |
Jamaica |
Yes |
Any format |
| JO |
Jordan |
Yes |
Any format |
| JP |
Japan |
No |
Not applicable |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| KE |
Kenya |
Yes |
Any format |
| KG |
Kyrgyzstan |
Yes |
Any format |
| KR |
Republic of Korea |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| LT |
Lithuania |
Yes |
Any format |
| LV |
Latvia |
Yes |
Any format |
| LY |
Libya |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| MA |
Morocco |
Yes |
Any format |
| MD |
Republic of Moldova |
Yes |
Any format |
| MK |
North Macedonia |
Yes |
Any format |
| MX |
Mexico |
Yes |
Any format |
| MY |
Malaysia |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| NI |
Nicaragua |
Yes |
Any format |
| NL |
Netherlands |
Yes |
Not specified |
| NO |
Norway |
Yes |
Any format |
| NZ |
New Zealand |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| OA |
African Intellectual Property Organization |
Yes |
Any format |
| OM |
Oman |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| PA |
Panama |
Yes |
Any format |
| PE |
Peru |
Yes |
Any format |
| PH |
Philippines |
Yes |
Any format |
| PL |
Poland |
Yes |
Any format |
| PT |
Portugal |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| QA |
Qatar |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| RO |
Romania |
Yes |
Any format |
| RS |
Serbia |
Yes |
Any format |
| RU |
Russian Federation |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| SA |
Saudi Arabia |
Yes |
Any format |
| SD |
Sudan |
Yes |
Any format |
| SE |
Sweden |
Yes |
Any format. Documents should preferably not be password protected. |
| SG |
Singapore |
Yes |
Any format |
| SI |
Slovenia |
Yes |
Any format |
| SK |
Slovakia |
Yes |
Any format |
| SV |
El Salvador |
Yes |
Any format |
| SY |
Syrian Arab Republic |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| TH |
Thailand |
Yes |
Any format |
| TJ |
Tajikistan |
Yes |
Any format |
| TN |
Tunisia |
Yes |
Any format |
| TR |
Türkiye |
Yes |
Any format |
| TT |
Trinidad and Tobago |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| UG |
Uganda |
Yes |
Any format |
| US |
United States of America |
No |
Not applicable |
| UZ |
Uzbekistan |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| VN |
Viet Nam |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| WS |
Samoa |
Yes |
Any format |
| Two-letter code |
Contracting State or Organization |
Does the Office accept documents in pre-conversion format? |
If yes, which pre-conversion formats does the Office accept? |
| ZA |
South Africa |
Yes |
Any format |
| ZM |
Zambia |
Yes |
Any format |