2. Allocation of the application 

Dossiers are normally allocated to an examining division that is responsible for examining applications in the technical field in which the particular application was classified by the search division or ISA that carried out the search. It is usual for the first member entrusted with the examination of the application in accordance with Art. 18(2) to be the same person who prepared the (supplementary) European search report and search opinion or, where the EPO was the ISA or the authority specified for the supplementary international search, the international search report and WO‑ISA or the supplementary international search report.

There may, however, be instances where it is appropriate to allocate the application to an examining division comprising examiners who are not normally responsible for the indicated part of the International Patent Classification (IPC) and who might not have been involved at the search stage. There are a number of possible reasons for this: e.g. to make it possible, where appropriate, that a parent and a divisional application are dealt with by the same examining division (this could sometimes be more efficient, even when the two applications are classified in different technical fields); or if the classification of the published application does not correspond to the subject-matter of the application in the form in which it reaches the substantive examiner (e.g. because the application has been amended after receipt of the search report and search opinion).