5.5 Precedence of the PCT provisions on physical requirements to be met by application documents and translations

Compliance of an international application with the PCT requirements as to form and content is, as a rule, ascertained during the international phase. The EPO checks Euro-PCT applications entering the European phase for compliance with the PCT formal requirements. The EPO is bound by the PCT and therefore must not accept an omission or evidently erroneous application of any PCT provision in the international phase. Since the PCT provisions as to form and content take precedence, the EPO will request the correction of any non-compliant documents under the PCT provision – rather than the EPC provisions – not complied with (A‑XII, 1.1). This means that if the physical requirements stipulated in Rule 11 PCT have not been complied with, the EPO will issue a communication indicating the deficiencies and invite the applicant to correct them within a time limit of two months under Rule 58. If the requirements are not fulfilled in due time, the application will be refused under Art. 90(3) unless the EPC provides for another sanction (Art. 90(5)). Another example concerns the title of the invention of the international application. The title need only meet the less demanding requirements of Rule 4.3 PCT, i.e. only the PCT requirement must be met, not the requirements for Euro-direct applications (A‑III, 7.1 and A‑III, 7.2).