Chapter 1 – General overview
1.4 What is the relationship between the PCT and the EPC?
1.4.001For international applications which are the subject of proceedings before the EPO in any of its functions (see point 1.1.004), the provisions of the PCT and its Regulations ("the PCT Rules") apply, supplemented by the provisions of the EPC.
1.4.002In case of conflict between the provisions of the EPC and those of the PCT or the PCT Rules, the PCT or the PCT Rules prevail.
1.4.003The PCT allows offices to notify the IB of an incompatibility of certain provisions with their national law, in which case those provisions do not apply before them. A list of notifications of incompatibility filed by the EPO is published on the WIPO website.11
1.4.004In accordance with the principle of the prevalence of the PCT, applicants should refer to the PCT International Search and Preliminary Examination Guidelines ("GL/ISPE", "ISPE Guidelines") for information on search and examination practice and procedure before the EPO as ISA, SISA and IPEA. In addition, they may also refer to the PCT‑EPO Guidelines. In these procedures, the Guidelines for Examination in the European Patent Office (GL/EPO) apply only to the extent that they can be applied in conformity with the supplementary role of the EPC in the international phase unless the EPO has filed a notification of incompatibility for a specific PCT provision (see point 1.4.003).
1.4.005In a number of cases the ISPE Guidelines leave a choice between alternative options, from which each ISA/IPEA may select the most appropriate. The options are set out in appendices to the chapters of the ISPE Guidelines. The EPO will choose the option most in line with its own practice under the EPC. A list of policy options chosen by the EPO is provided in the annex to this Guide (see also point 3.2.003).
1.4.006Moreover, an agreement between the EPO and the International Bureau of WIPO ("Agreement EPO-WIPO") concerning the functioning of the EPO as International Authority (ISA, SISA and IPEA) sets out all particulars of the EPO's work in that capacity. The latest agreement, dated October 2017, entered into force on 1 January 2018 and has been amended several times since then. The consolidated version of the text as amended can be found on the WIPO website.12