(a) the invention mentioned in the application is not excluded from the protection
afforded by the patent under the provisions of Article 6 of this Annex;
(b) the claim or claims conform to the provisions of Article 14(1)(d)(iii) of this Annex;
(c) the provisions of Article 15 of this Annex have been respected.
(2) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (3) below, a search shall also be conducted to
ensure that
(a) at the time of the filing of the patent application, an application for a patent filed
earlier, or benefiting from a validly claimed earlier priority and concerning the same
invention, was not in the process of being granted;
(b) the invention
(i) is new,
(ii) involves an inventive step,
(iii) is industrially applicable.
(3) The Administrative Council shall decide whether, and to what extent, the provisions
of paragraph (2)(a) and (b) above shall be applied; in particular, it may decide whether all or
some of the said provisions are applicable to one or several fields of technology covered by
the inventions; it shall determine such fields by reference to the International Patent
Classification.
(4) Where the invention relates to the use of a microorganism, the Organization shall
reserve the right to require the applicant to deposit a sample of the microorganism as issued
by the depositary institution or the international depositary authority.
(5) For international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty, the
Organization may avail itself of the provisions of Articles 20 and 36 of the said Treaty, which
relate to the international search report and the international preliminary examination report,
respectively.
Article 21
Amendment of the Claims, the Description,
the Drawings and the Abstract
(1) The applicant may amend the claims, the description, the drawings and the abstract
prior to grant.
(2) The amendment shall not go beyond the disclosure of the invention appearing in the
application as filed.
Article 22
Grant
(1) Where the Organization finds that all the conditions for the grant of the patent have
been met and that a search report under Article 20, where applicable, has been drawn up, it
shall notify the decision and grant the patent applied for. In all cases, however, the grant of
patents shall be at the applicant’s own risk and without any guarantee either as to the reality,
novelty or merits of the invention or as to the truth or accuracy of the description.
(2) The grant of the patent shall take place on a decision by the Director General of the
Organization or on a decision by a staff member of the Organization duly authorized to that
end by the Director General.