Guidelines for Examination

General

The requirements for a European patent application are set out in Art. 78. The application must contain:

Art. 78

(i)

a request for the grant of a European patent;

Art. 78(1)(a)

(ii)

a description of the invention;

Art. 78(1)(b)

(iii)

one or more claims;

Art. 78(1)(c)

(iv)

any drawings referred to in the description or the claims; and

Art. 78(1)(d)

(v)

an abstract.

Art. 78(1)(e)

This Chapter deals with all these requirements, insofar as they are the concern of the examiner, with the exception of item (iii) which is the subject of Chapter F-IV. Item (v) is dealt with first.