The unit within the EPO responsible for carrying out the search and drawing up the search report for an application is a Search Division, which consists normally of one examiner. The examiner responsible for the search on a European application is also normally the first member of the Examining Division for that application. Where the invention is of a nature requiring searching in widely dispersed specialised fields, a special Search Division consisting of two, or possibly three, examiners may be formed, for example, where the "person skilled in the art" in the technical field of the application consists of more than one person (see C-IV, 11.3).

In this Part B, the term "examiner" is used to mean the examiner entrusted with the search within the Search Division which is responsible for drawing up the search report and the search opinion (see XII).