Regulatory part

The applicant has a period of three months, renewable once, from notification of the preliminary search report, to file new claims or submit observations for the purpose of discussing the opposability of the cited prior art.

In the event of the filing of new claims, the changes made to the claims shall be indicated. Upon request, the applicant may, in this case, be authorised to eliminate from the description and drawings the elements which would no longer be consistent with the new claims. This request shall be admissible until the date of payment of the fee for the issue and printing of the specification.

If the subject matter of the new claims is not covered by the claims on the basis of which the search was carried out, the applicant shall be notified to pay the prescribed fee for the drawing up of a supplementary preliminary search report. If the person concerned does not comply with this request within the time limit set, the filing of the new claims is declared inadmissible and the…

The preliminary search report is made public at the same time as the patent application or, if it has not yet been drawn up, as soon as it is notified to the applicant. Its availability to the public shall be mentioned in the Official Industrial Property Bulletin.

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If the patent application is withdrawn or converted into an application for a utility certificate, the procedure for drawing up the search report shall be terminated.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