Regulations under the PCT

Rule 36
Minimum Requirements for International Searching Authorities

36.1       Definition of Minimum Requirements

The minimum requirements referred to in Article 16(3)(c) shall be the following:

(i)  the national Office or intergovernmental organization must have at least 100 full-time employees with sufficient technical qualifications to carry out searches;

(ii)  that Office or organization must have in its possession, or have access to, at least the minimum documentation referred to in Rule 34, properly arranged for search purposes, on paper, in microform or stored on electronic media;

(iii)  that Office or organization must have a staff which is capable of searching the required technical fields and which has the language facilities to understand at least those languages in which the minimum documentation referred to in Rule 34 is written or is translated;

(iv)  that Office or organization must have in place a quality management system and internal review arrangements in accordance with the common rules of international search;

(v)  that Office or organization must hold an appointment as an International Preliminary Examining Authority.