(3) Patents based on international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty
shall be granted in the same manner as provided for in the foregoing paragraph, but with
reference to the international publication provided for in the said Treaty.
(4) Any application for a patent or for a certificate of addition may be withdrawn prior
to grant by the person who filed it. The documents shall be returned to him only at his
request.
Article 23
Deferment of Grant
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1) of the foregoing Article, the
applicant may ask for grant to take place one year after the filing date of the application if the
said application contains an express request to that effect. A person who has requested the
benefit of this provision may renounce it at any time within the said period of one year.
(2) The same shall apply to any application that is not accompanied by a copy of the
documents provided for in paragraphs (1)(d) and (2) of Article 14.
(3) The benefit of the foregoing provision may not be claimed by persons who have
already availed themselves of the priority periods granted by international treaties, and in
particular by Article 4 of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.
Article 24
Conditions Governing Rejection
(1) Any application concerning an invention that is not patentable under Article 6 or
does not conform to the provisions of Article 20 shall be rejected.
(2) The same shall apply to any application that is not accompanied by a copy of each
of the documents prescribed in Article 14(d).
(3) An application that does not fulfill the provisions of Article 15 may, within a period
of six months from the date of notification that the application cannot be accepted as filed
because it does not have one principal subject, be divided into a number of applications
benefiting from the date of the initial application.
(4) Any application for which the other requirements of Article 14, except for its
subparagraph (b), and those of Article 15 have not been fulfilled is defective. The defect shall
be notified to the applicant or his agent, who shall be invited to correct the documents within
a period of three months from the date of the notification. That period may be extended by 30
days, in cases of justifiable need, at the request of the applicant or his agent. The application
so corrected within the said period shall retain the date of the initial application.
(5) In the event of the corrected documents not being provided within the prescribed
period, the patent application shall be rejected.
(6) No application may be rejected under paragraphs (1), (2), (3) or (4) of this
Article without the applicant or his agent having first been given the opportunity to correct the
said application to the extent and according to the procedure prescribed.