3. Translation of the international application and further documents that are part of the international publication
3.1 Translation requirements if the EPO acts in its capacity as designated or elected Office
If the EPO acts in its capacity as designated Office, the translation must include the following:
(i)the description as originally filed and, if applicable, the title as established by the ISA under Rule 37.2 PCT
Rule 49.5(a) and (k) PCT
(iv)the abstract as published.
The translation to be filed with the EPO as designated Office must also include:
(v)any published request for rectification under Rule 91.3(d) PCT
(vi)any language-dependent free text contained in the sequence listing part of the description, unless the free text is also available in English or in the EPO official language in which the international application was published. For further details, see OJ EPO 2021, A97. Any translation must be furnished in the form of the complete sequence listing complying with WIPO Standard ST.26. For text matter contained in ST.25 sequence listings, see the April 2025 edition of the Guidelines, E‑IX, 2.1.4, item (vi).
If the applicant wishes the amended claims under Art. 19 PCT to form the basis for further proceedings:
(viii)the amendments under Art. 19 PCT in the form of a translation of the complete set of claims furnished under that provision and the statement under Art. 19(1) PCT, if submitted to the IB, and,
(ix)the accompanying letter indicating the basis for the amendments in the application as filed (Rule 46.5(b) PCT), to enable the examiner to understand the amendments and take them into account.
If the EPO acts in its capacity as elected Office, the translation must include all of the above documents that need to be filed with the EPO as designated Office and:
(x)all annexes to the IPER, i.e. any replacement sheets and accompanying letters referred to in Rule 70.16 PCT that enable the examiner to understand the amendments, regardless of whether protection is sought for the same version of the application documents as was the subject of the IPER, and
(xi)any amendments made to the claims under Art. 19 PCT (cf. item (viii) above), if the applicant wishes these amendments to form the basis for further proceedings and they are not annexed to the IPER, for instance because they were considered reversed by an amendment under Art. 34 PCT.
(xii)the accompanying letter indicating the basis for the amendments in the application as filed (Rule 46.5(b) PCT), to enable the examiner to understand the amendments and take them into account.
In relation to items (i) to (iii) above: if erroneously filed elements or parts are corrected by the receiving Office under Rule 20.5bis(d) PCT in an international application with a filing date of 1 November 2022 or later, the translation must include both the erroneously filed application documents and the correct application documents with an indication as to which pages relate to the correct and which to the erroneously filed application documents. For applications filed before that date, see the April 2025 edition of the Guidelines. See also A‑XV, 6; A‑II, 4.1.5 and see 6; C‑III, 1.3.