Background
Article 6(2) provides that:
"(2) [Request Form] (a) A Contracting Party may require that the contents of an application which correspond to the contents of the request of an international application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty be presented on a request Form prescribed by that Contracting Party. A Contracting Party may also require that any further contents allowed under paragraph (1)(ii) or prescribed in the Regulations pursuant to paragraph (1)(iii) be contained in that request Form.
"(b) Notwithstanding subparagraph (a), and subject to Article 8(1), a Contracting Party shall accept the presentation of the contents referred to in subparagraph (a) on a request Form provided for in the Regulations."
As explained in Notes 6.10 and 6.11 of the Explanatory Notes on the Patent Law Treaty and the Regulations Under The Patent Law Treaty ("PLT Notes"):
"6.10 Paragraph (2)(a) This provision permits, but does not oblige, a Contracting Party to require the use of a request Form prescribed by that Contracting Party. It also allows a Contracting Party to require that the contents of the request which are provided for in respect of international applications under PCT Rule 4.1, as well as any contents allowed to be required under paragraph (1)(ii) or prescribed in Rule 3(1), be contained in the request. For example, a Contracting Party may require that the request contain various declarations as provided in PCT Rule 4.17.
"6.11 Paragraph (2)(b). This provision obliges a Contracting Party, notwithstanding paragraph (2)(a), to accept the presentation of the formal contents of a request on a request Form, as prescribed in Rule 3(2) (see Notes R3.02 to R3.04)."
Rule 3(2)(i) provides that:
"(2) [Request Form Under Article 6(2)(b)] A Contracting party shall accept the presentation of the contents referred to in Article 6(2)(a):
"(i) on a request Form if that request from corresponds to the Patent Cooperation Treaty request Form with any modifications under Rule 20(2);
..."
As explained in Note R3.02 of the PLT Notes:
"R3.02 Paragraph (2), item (i) This item obliges a Contracting Party to accept the use of a request Form corresponding to the PCT request Form with any modifications established by the Assembly under Rule 20(2). Such modifications could include, for example, omission of the indication for the designation of PCT Contracting States, omission of the indication for the designation of States of regional organizations, and the addition of the indications for a request that the application be treated as a divisional application or an entitlement application referred to in Rule 2(6)(i) and (iii)."
Model International Request Form
It is proposed that the modifications of the Patent Cooperation Treaty request Form (PCT/RO/101) under PLT Rule 20(2) are in the form of a Model International Request Form. The proposed modifications include changes necessary to adapt the PCT request Form for international applications under the PCT to a Form requesting the grant of a national patent by a national Office, or the grant of a regional patent by the Office of a regional Patent Organization, under the applicable national or regional law in accordance with the PLT.
In particular, the proposed Model International Request Form incorporates the modifications foreshadowed in Note R3.02 of the PLT Notes (see paragraph 4, above). The title of the request Form "Request for the grant of a patent", together with an indication of national or regional patent Office that is requested to grant a patent, fulfills the requirement that an application contain an express or implicit indication to the effect that the submitted document is intended to be a patent application (see PLT Article 5(1)(i)). The proposed modifications also provide for the express provisions under the PLT in respect of security exceptions under Article 4, representatives under Article 7 and communications and addresses under Article 8. The final box "For Office use only" is provided for the Office to note any indications or references that may be convenient for the purpose of processing patent applications (for example, in order to facilitate the determination of the date of filing, a date on which a missing drawing was subsequently filed with the Office may be indicated in this Box).
Notes to the Model International Request Form
The Model International Request Form contains Notes to the Model International Request Form. Since the Model International Request Form is based on the PCT request Form with appropriate modifications, the Notes are also based on the Notes to the PCT request Form. Similarly to the case of those PCT Notes, the Notes to the Model International Request Form are intended to facilitate the filling in of the Form by the applicant. Since the PLT contains no provision for the establishment of the Notes by the Assembly, such Notes would be established by the International Bureau for explanatory purposes only.
Individualized Model International Request Form
The Model International Request Form refer to, and leave space for filling in, all the elements (information) that Contracting Parties may require under the PLT and its Regulations. Some of those elements, however, will not be required under the national (or regional) law applicable to the Office concerned, since the PLT provides, except Article 5, maximum requirements a Contracting Party may impose. Therefore, any Contracting Party would be free to individualize the Model International request Form for its applicants in accordance with Article 6(2)(a). In particular, an individualized Model International Request Form could have the name of the Office pre-printed in the title, could be in the language(s) accepted by the Office for filing applications under Article 5(2)(a), could omit any Boxes not relevant to that Office and, in the case of a regional patent Organization, Box No. VI (Regional Patent Application) could list the Member States of that Organization together with check-boxes for the purposes of indicating those States in which protection is sought. Any Contracting Party which individualized a Model International Request Form, could, of course, also individualize the Notes so that they relate expressly to the individualized Form.