1. General

Due to their different legal nature, the individual acts required under Rule 159(1) do not form a unitary procedural step but are legally independent and subject to independent time limits (A‑XII, 4.1). This means that there are differences in the circumstances in which these requirements apply, the legal consequences of (non-)compliance and the available remedies. Each minimum requirement is therefore dealt with individually, together with the associated legal consequence of (not) complying with it and the particular remedy available (A‑XIII, 3 to 8). Full or partial compliance or non-compliance with the applicable minimum requirements has legal consequences for the following:

–provisional protection (A‑XIII, 9.1.1)

–filing a divisional application (A‑XIII, 9.1.2)

–the status of a Euro-PCT application as prior art under Rule 165 (A‑XIII, 9.1.3).

A‑XIII, 9.2 deals with the cumulative effect of non-compliance with more than one minimum requirement in terms of requesting further processing or re-establishment of rights.

For general guidance on the payment of fees, see A‑X. On the reduction and refunds of fees in respect of Euro-PCT applications, see A‑X, 9.2 to A‑X, 9.5 and A‑X, 10.2.

The further requirements (A‑XII, 4.4) are dealt with in A‑XIII, 11.