The communication under Rule 51(4) does not constitute an opportunity for the applicant to call into question the outcome of the earlier procedure. At this stage of the proceedings, substantive examination has already been completed and the applicant has had the opportunity to amend the application and therefore normally only those amendments which do not appreciably delay the preparations for grant of the patent will be admitted under Rule 86(3). It is, however, appropriate to admit separate sets of claims for one or more designated States that made a reservation under Art. 167(2) (see III, 8.3) or for which prior national rights exist (see III, 8.4).

However, if no communication under Art. 96(2) has preceded the communication under Rule 51(4) the latter is a "first communication" within the meaning of Rule 86(3). This means that the applicant may amend the description, claims and drawings of his own volition (see VI, 3.2 for the conditions any amendment must satisfy). Nonetheless, unless the applicant's response corresponds to one of the exceptions defined in VI, 15.4a, the fees for grant and printing must be paid and the translations of the claims filed, as required by Rule 51(5).

If, in reply to the communication under Rule 51(4) and within the specified period, the applicant files a request for amendments under Rule 86(3) and/or a correction of errors under Rule 88, and these concern the claims, the request should be accompanied by a translation of the claims as amended and/or corrected. This applies regardless of whether the request is an explicit request for amendment or is drafted as an approval which is conditional on the filed amendments. Failure to observe this requirement results in the application being deemed withdrawn (Rule 51(8)). Provided that the applicant has filed the translation of the claims as amended and/or corrected and has paid the fees for grant and printing within the specified period, he is deemed to have approved the grant of the patent as amended and/or corrected.

If the Examining Division gives its consent under Rule 86(3) to these amendments and/or the correction and considers them allowable without issuing a further communication under Art. 96(2), it does not issue a second communication under Rule 51(4), but proceeds to the grant of the patent pursuant to Art. 97(2).

If, under Rule 86(3), the Examining Division does not admit the amendments and/or corrections proposed (cf. VI, 4.7 - VI, 4.9) or does not allow the amendments and/or corrections because the application does not comply with the requirements of the EPC (see VI, 3.2, VI, 5.2 and VI, 5.4), the Examining Division informs the applicant of this fact, stating its reasons and giving him an opportunity to submit within a specified period his observations and any amendments considered necessary by the Examining Division and, where the claims are again amended, a translation of the claims as amended. The procedure may subsequently continue e.g. as follows: