IPA patent 6.1.12.1-background-search-report-and-notification-form-completion — IP Australia Patent Manual of Practice and Procedure – 6.1.12.1 Background Search Report and Notification Form Completion

Also in this Chapter: 6.1.12.2 Applicant Details 6.1.12.3 General Details - ISR 6.1.12.4 Fields Searched - ISR 6.1.12.5 Documents Considered to be Relevant 6.1.12.6 Family Member Identification 6.1.12.7 Date of Actual Completion of the Search 6.1.12.8 Refund Due 6.1.12.9 Contents of Case File at Completion Key Legislation: PCT ISPE Guidelines: Paragraph 16.08 International Search Report Form ​​​​​​Key Related Topics: 3.2 Customer Service Charter (Timeliness Standards) Annex A - Blank ISR Annex B - Completed ISR Annex C - Completed ISR After the search has been completed, the examiner reconsiders the Classification in the light of experience acquired during the search ( PCT/GL/ISPE/12 at paragraph 16.08 ) and prepares all of: The International Search Report (ISR) form PCT/ISA/210 (see Annexes B and C ) The Notification of Transmittal of the ISR form PCT/ISA/220 (see first page of Annexes B and C ) The International Search Opinion (ISO) form PCT/ISA/237 (see Annex A - Written Opinion-ISA ) The examiner should complete the search report without delay once the search has been completed. Once the ISR and ISO have been completed, they may be submitted for Quality Assurance within the examination section and should be given high priority. The person responsible for the report must ensure that, under normal circumstances, all matters are completed in time to allow the report to be established within whichever time limit expires later of: three months from the receipt of the search copy nine months from the priority date. See 3.2 Customer Service Charter (Timeliness Standards) for apology time limits. When unforeseen circumstances arise that are likely to prevent the search and opinion being completed within its target time, counter measures should be adopted where practical. Unforeseen circumstances include the search examiner being unexpectedly absent, or abstracts/citations not being delivered within the anticipated time frame. An example of a counter measure is contemplation of transferring the case to another examiner for completion. Annex A- Blank ISR includes a sample form. See completed examples of search reports at Annexes B and C .