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How to get a European patent
A. General overview
B. The EPO as a PCT receiving Office
C. The EPO as an International Searching Authority
D. The EPO as an International Preliminary Examining Authority
E. Euro-PCT procedure before the EPO as a designated or elected Office
Annexes
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Non-designation
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For reasons of national law, check-boxes in Box No. V on the PCT request form provide for exceptions to the otherwise automatic designation of DE Germany, KR Republic of Korea and RU Russian Federation. Crossing the check-box for DE Germany, KR Republic of Korea and/or RU Russian Federation is not considered to be a withdrawal, but a non-designation of the state(s) concerned. The designation of JP Japan will soon be added to this list. According to the national law of these states, the filing of an international application which contains the designation of that state and claims the priority of an earlier national application (for Germany: for the same kind of protection) will have the result that the earlier national application ceases to have effect, with the same consequences as the withdrawal of the earlier national application. More information on so-called 'self-designation'' can be obtained from the national patent offices concerned.
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PCT Gazette 50/2003, p. 28386;
52/2005, p. 34912
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As regards the EPC contracting states, the problem of self-designation exclusively concerns DE Germany and only if the PCT request includes the automatic designation of DE Germany for a national patent. Therefore, the designation of DE Germany for the purposes of an EP European patent is not considered a self-designation and therefore not affected. Consequently, there is no reason for withdrawing the automatic designation of EP.
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The national law of a number of EPC contracting states stipulates that on the basis of a PCT application only a European patent may be obtained for these states. The countries which close off the route to a national patent in this way were, at 1 December 2005, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Monaco, the Netherlands and Slovenia.
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Art. 45(2) PCT
Art. 153(1) EPC
PCT Newsletter 2004, 6 - 7
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