While fundamental reforms were not needed, it was important to remain open to legal changes necessary to support developing requirements. The ability to see and, in accordance with national laws and procedures, make use of work products from other Offices was important. Some delegations expressed support for the formal integration of the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) into the PCT, which could provide an incentive for applicants to amend applications in the national phase. One delegation reiterated its concerns with this idea, which it believed would hinder the implementation of the technical recommendations of the PCT Roadmap and the WIPO Development Agenda to eliminate differences in search and examination capacities between Offices, and instead harmonize patent procedures between Offices by imposing examination practices on Offices in developing countries. Technical (IT) Environment The recent Meeting of Intellectual Property Offices on ICT Strategies and Artificial Intelligence for IP Administration had emphasized the importance and increased appetite for effective cooperation in the development of IT tools and standards. Increased use of standardized XML was important, both for application bodies and for Office communications, such as international search reports and written opinions. Improving tools for assisting Offices and sharing information, such as ePCT and WIPO CASE, was essential. Take up of XML filing was low at some IP Offices the International Bureau and IP – Offices might undertake further awareness raising of ePCT filing using DOCX and converting documents to XML format. Financial Issues It may be appropriate to consider whether certain fees remained appropriate in the digital environment. This included the concept of page fees, incentives for filing in preferred formats and whether fees such as the transmittal fee still made sense in view of more automated processing at receiving Offices. Receiving Offices might consider a waiver of the transmittal fee for universities. International Authorities might consider fee reductions for applicants from developing countries. Further measures might be considered for avoiding abuse of fee reductions. Measures such as netting to simplify and reduce the costs and burdens of fee exchange were important. One delegation emphasized the importance of PCT fee income towards the funding of the activities undertaken by WIPO and stated that reductions in PCT fees should not have an impact on the fee levels in the other global IP systems provided by WIPO. Quality Quality of search and examination was of paramount importance.
While fundamental reforms were not needed, it was important to remain open to legal changes necessary to support developing requirements. The ability to see and, in accordance with national laws and procedures, make use of work products from other Offices was important. Some delegations expressed support for the formal integration of the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) into the PCT, which could provide an incentive for applicants to amend applications in the national phase. One delegation reiterated its concerns with this idea, which it believed would hinder the implementation of the technical recommendations of the PCT Roadmap and the WIPO Development Agenda to eliminate differences in search and examination capacities between Offices, and instead harmonize patent procedures between Offices by imposing examination practices on Offices in developing countries. Technical (IT) Environment The recent Meeting of Intellectual Property Offices on ICT Strategies and Artificial Intelligence for IP Administration had emphasized the importance and increased appetite for effective cooperation in the development of IT tools and standards. Increased use of standardized XML was important, both for application bodies and for Office communications, such as international search reports and written opinions. Improving tools for assisting Offices and sharing information, such as ePCT and WIPO CASE, was essential. Take up of XML filing was low at some IP Offices – the International Bureau and IP Offices might undertake further awareness raising of ePCT filing using DOCX and converting documents to XML format. Financial Issues It may be appropriate to consider whether certain fees remained appropriate in the digital environment. This included the concept of page fees, incentives for filing in preferred formats and whether fees such as the transmittal fee still made sense in view of more automated processing at receiving Offices. Receiving Offices might consider a waiver of the transmittal fee for universities. International Authorities might consider fee reductions for applicants from developing countries. Further measures might be considered for avoiding abuse of fee reductions. Measures such as netting to simplify and reduce the costs and burdens of fee exchange were important. One delegation emphasized the importance of PCT fee income towards the funding of the activities undertaken by WIPO and stated that reductions in PCT fees should not have an impact on the fee levels in the other global IP systems provided by WIPO. Quality Quality of search and examination was of paramount importance.
pct_wg_11_26.docx