3. No request for payment of additional search fees 

Exceptionally it might be chosen not to request the applicant to pay additional search fees, even if an objection as to lack of unity occurs. This could be the case when the additional search effort for the other invention(s) is minor. In addition, no invitation to pay additional search fees should be issued when the other inventions are either not novel or do not possess an inventive step over the prior art at hand. However, it must be borne in mind that the written opinion under Chapter I must be written for all inventions that were searched, including those for which no additional search fees were requested. If additional search fees are not requested, for consistency reasons the examiner should not ask for additional examination fees should a demand for international preliminary examination under Chapter II be filed (see GL/PCT‑EPO C‑V, 3.3). Thus, when deciding on whether to ask for additional search fees, the examination effort for the whole procedure must also be taken into account.

If an objection of lack of unity has been raised but it was exceptionally chosen not to request the applicant to pay additional search fees, the ISR is issued for all inventions, indicating that the application lacks unity and listing the different groups of inventions. The WO‑ISA is completed for all searched inventions. In Section IV of the WO‑ISA, the examiner indicates that the requirement of unity is not fulfilled and that all claims have been searched and examined and provides full reasons on the separate sheet.