Subsection 5: Drawing up the research report

The period during which third parties may submit observations expires three months after the publication provided for in Article R. 612-62. Under penalty of inadmissibility, observations from third parties are submitted, in duplicate, under the conditions provided for in Article R. 612-57 and shall be accompanied by the documents cited or a reproduction thereof and all necessary information or evidence. This latter provision does not apply to patents; however, at…

The applicant shall have a period of three months from the date of receipt of the notification of the observations of third parties to file, in writing, his observations in response or a new drafting of the claims. This period may be renewed once at the request of the applicant.

The preliminary research report may be completed at any time before the research report is drawn up. In this case, the articles R. 612-57 to R. 612-64.

If the patent application is withdrawn or converted into an application for a utility certificate, the procedure for drawing up the search report shall be terminated.

The search report shall be drawn up in the light of the preliminary search report, taking into account, where appropriate, the claims last filed, any observations of the applicant filed in support of the maintained claims and any observations of third parties. It shall be established upon expiry of the time limits set in the articles R. 612-59, R. 612-61, R. 612-63 or R. 612-64, whichever expires later.

Notwithstanding the entry in the National Patent Register of rights in rem, pledges or licences in respect of a patent application, the applicant may amend the claims relating to that application without the consent of the holders of those rights.

If the applicant considers that one or more of the cited elements of the state of the art do not need to be taken into consideration in order to assess, within the meaning of articles L. 611-11 and L. 611-14, the patentability of the invention, which is the subject of the application, because their disclosure results from a characterised abuse with regard to it within the meaning of Article L….