W 0015/91 (Herbicides) of 27.01.1992
- European Case Law Identifier
- ECLI:EP:BA:1992:W001591.19920127
- Date of decision
- 27 January 1992
- Case number
- W 0015/91
- Petition for review of
- -
- Application number
- PCT/EP1990/01720
- IPC class
- A01N 35/06
- Language of proceedings
- German
- Distribution
- Published in the EPO's Official Journal (A)
- Download
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- Other decisions for this case
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- Abstracts for this decision
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- Application title
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- Applicant name
- Hoechst
- Opponent name
- -
- Board
- 3.3.02
- Headnote
Under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), the International Searching Authority (ISA) is also responsible, when carrying out international searches, for classifying the international application searched by it (see Rule 43.3 PCT). Accordingly, the ISA plainly has extensive knowledge of the documentation to be employed, which according to the PCT must be properly arranged for search purposes (see Article 15(4) in conjunction with Rules 34 and 36 PCT). The ISA is therefore the competent body to judge which classification units are reasonably to be employed for the international search. This explains why, under the PCT guidelines, it is a matter for the ISA to decide whether or not the time required for a complete search is negligible (see Chapter VII, paragraph 12, of the PCT guidelines).
- Relevant legal provisions
- Patent Cooperation Treaty Art 17(3)(a)Patent Cooperation Treaty R 13(1)Patent Cooperation Treaty R 40(1)Patent Cooperation Treaty R 40(2)(c)
- Keywords
- Lack of unity a posteriori (confirmed)
Multiple independent groups of inventions - Catchword
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- Cited cases
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- Citing cases
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ORDER
For these reasons it is decided that:
The protest under Rule 40.2(c) PCT is dismissed.