Chapter II – European search report
Rule 45
Incomplete search
A revised version of the European Patent Convention entered into force on 13 December 2007. The provisions of the revised Convention apply unless the transitional provisions provide for the applicability of the EPC 1973. |
If the Search Division considers that the European patent application does not comply with the provisions of the Convention to such an extent that it is not possible to carry out a meaningful search into the state of the art on the basis of all or some of the claims, it shall either declare that search is not possible or shall, so far as is practicable, draw up a partial European search report. The declaration and the partial report referred to shall be considered, for the purposes of subsequent proceedings, as the European search report.