5.2 Preliminary examination 

When the formal requirements have been met, and, where appropriate, the arguments of the parties are on file, the case will be referred to the directorate responsible for the technical field of the patent in order for the examining division to be established. Assuming that an examining division consisting entirely of new members can be formed or, where this is not possible, that the court maintains its request for a technical opinion (see E‑XII, 3 E‑XIII, 3.1), the primary examiner will perform a preliminary examination to determine whether:

(i)the questions put by the national court are such as the examining division is competent to answer, at least in part; and 

(ii)the papers filed are sufficiently complete and the necessary translations have also been filed. 

If there are any deficiencies in these respects, the primary examiner will write to the national court accordingly.