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INTERNATIONAL TREATIES

PCT

Agreement between the EPO and WIPO under the PCT

Pursuant to Article 11(2) of the Agreement between the EPO and WIPO under the PCT1, Annex A to the agreement has been amended2 with effect from 1 March 2009. The text of Annex A as amended is published below.

Annex A

Languages and kinds of application

Under Article 3 of the Agreement, the Authority specifies:

(1) the following languages which it will accept:

English, French, German, and where the receiving Office is the industrial property Office of Belgium or the Netherlands, Dutch.

(2) the following kinds of application for which it will not act:

(i) as an International Searching Authority and an International Preliminary Examining Authority, international applications filed by a national or resident of the United States of America with the United States Patent and Trademark Office or the International Bureau as receiving Office, where such applications contain one or more claims relating to the field of business methods, as defined by the following International Patent Classification units:

G06Q:

Data processing systems or methods, specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial, supervisory or forecasting purposes; systems or methods specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial, supervisory or forecasting purposes, not otherwise provided for

G06Q 10/00:

Administration, e.g. office automation or reservations; management, e.g. resource or project management

G06Q 30/00:

Commerce, e.g. marketing, shopping, billing, auctions or e-commerce

G06Q 40/00:

Finance, e.g. banking, investment or tax processing; insurance, e.g. risk analysis or pensions

G06Q 50/00:

Systems or methods specially adapted for a specific business sector, e.g. health care, utilities, tourism or legal services

G06Q 90/00:

Systems or methods specially adapted for administrative, commercial, financial, managerial, supervisory or forecasting purposes, not involving significant data processing

G06Q 99/00:

Subject-matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass

(ii) as an International Preliminary Examining Authority, international applications where the international search is to be, or has been, performed by an International Searching Authority other than the European Patent Office or the industrial property Office of a state party to the European Patent Convention.