5.4 Application documents on which the procedure before the EPO as designated/elected Office is based (Form 1200, Section 6)
5.4.2.Information on prior art (Form 1200, Section 6.3)
5.4.006The obligation applies irrespective of the form and format in which the search results are drawn up, for instance a search report, a listing of cited prior art or a (relevant) part of an examination report. A complete copy of each relevant document as received from the authority concerned must be filed. However, neither a translation of the search results nor a copy of the documents cited in them need be filed at this stage.
5.4.007If the search results for the priority application(s) are not available at the time of entry into the European phase, applicants must file them as soon as they receive them.
5.4.008No action is required on the part of the applicant where an exemption applies. Firstly, this is the case if the EPO is the authority that performed the search on a claimed priority application and established a search report of one of the following types: a European search report, an ISR, an international-type search report or a search report on a national application drawn up on behalf of a national office.
5.4.009A further exemption from the obligation to file a copy of any search results for a priority application applies if priority is claimed of a first filing made in:
–Austria
–the Czech Republic
–Denmark
–Japan
–the People's Republic of China
–the Republic of Korea
–Spain
–Sweden
–Switzerland
–the United Kingdom
–the United States of America.
5.4.010Where applicants have to file search results for a claimed priority application with the EPO but these results are not received, they will be invited to file, within a two-month period set in the invitation, either the copy of the missing search results or a statement that these results are (in whole or in part) not available to them. The invitation will be issued at the time the examining division assumes responsibility for the application.