Meeting of International Authorities
The 31st session of the Meeting of International Authorities under the PCT (“the Meeting”) was held in Beijing, China, on 16 and 17 October 2024. The Summary by the Chair and working documents can be found on the WIPO website at:
https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=84116
The topics discussed included:
- the results of the meeting of the Quality Subgroup that had met online on 25 and 26 September 2024, and in person in Beijing on 15 October 2024. The Subgroup agreed to more cooperation on quality management systems with paired reviews and small group discussions taking place over the year to enable greater dialogue on specific subjects. The Subgroup also approved in principle standardized clauses for unity of invention, and recommended working towards the publication of compiled divergent practices in the International Search and Preliminary Examination Guidelines on the WIPO website. For further details, please refer to the Summary by the Chair (Annex II to document PCT/MIA/31/11);
- the extension of the appointments of International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authorities beyond the end of 2027 (document PCT/MIA/31/8). The Meeting agreed to submit a proposed timeline to the next session of the PCT Working Group in February 2025, where the PCT Assembly would decide on approval of the extensions in July 2026. The Meeting also agreed to propose a format to the PCT Working Group of the application for extension of appointment that each Authority would submit to the PCT Committee for Technical Cooperation to provide its advice on their extension based on the proposal in the document;
- the agreement that an Office or organization is required to conclude with the International Bureau in relation to its functioning as an International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authority (document PCT/MIA/31/3), where the Meeting agreed that the International Bureau should submit a draft model agreement for International Authorities whose appointments are to be extended from 2028, for the PCT Working Group to consider at its next session in February 2025;
- the citation of non-written disclosures as relevant prior art in international search and preliminary examination (document PCT/MIA/31/2), where International Authorities agreed to discuss modifications to the PCT International Search and Preliminary Examination Guidelines to implement the change to the definition of relevant prior art to include non-written disclosures that will enter into force on 1 January 2026;
- the issue of merging the international search report and written opinion of the International Searching Authority (document PCT/MIA/31/7), where International Authorities generally indicated that merging the two forms was not a priority, essentially due to the high incurred implementation costs;
- improving the written opinion (documents PCT/MIA/31/9 and PCT/MIA/31/10) where Authorities agreed to continue discussions on ways to clarify the use of Boxes VII (“Certain defects in the international application”) and VIII (“Certain observations on the international application”) and the content of Box IV (“Lack of unity of invention”);
- a status report on the PCT Minimum Documentation Task Force led by the European Patent Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (document PCT/MIA/31/6). The Meeting recalled that the Committee on WIPO Standards (CWS) had approved the creation of the Authority File Task Force to encourage IP Offices to provide their patent authority file in compliance with WIPO Standard ST.37 by providing technical support and training, and undertake any necessary revisions and updates to the Standard (see paragraphs 76 to 78 of document CWS/12/28). International Authorities were encouraged to consider any likely modifications to WIPO Standard ST.37 when preparing to meet the minimum documentation requirements from 1 January 2026 and take all possible steps to ensure that their patent documentation is available to other Authorities in effective formats prior to that date;
- a status report on the Sequence Listing Task Force (document PCT/MIA/31/5), where the European Patent Office reported that WIPO Sequence Validator version 3.0.0 had been released on 3 October 2024, and a new version of WIPO Sequence would follow soon; and
- a report on the work of the PCT Text Processing Task Force (document PCT/MIA/31/4).