5.5.2.What must the translation include? 

5.5.010The translation must always include: 

–the description (as originally filed) 

–the claims (as originally filed) 

–any text in the drawings (as originally filed) 

–the abstract (as published). 

5.5.011If the EPO acts as designated Office the translation must, where applicable, also include:

–any amendments made to the claims under Article 19 PCT in the form of a translation of the complete set of claims furnished in replacement of all claims originally filed (see point 3.2.033), but only if the applicant wishes these amendments to form the basis of further proceedings. The claims as amended under Article 19 PCT must be submitted together with, if submitted to the IB, the translated statement under Article 19(1) PCT explaining the amendments and the translated accompanying letter under Rule 46.5(b) PCT, indicating the basis for the amendments in the application as filed, in an official language of the EPO, so as to allow the examiner to understand and take the amendments into account. If a translation of the complete set of claims submitted under Article 19 PCT is not furnished or not accompanied by a translation of, if submitted to the IB, the statement under Article 19(1) PCT and, as the case may be, the accompanying letter under Rule 46.5(b) PCT, the amendments under Article 19 PCT will be disregarded for the further proceedings. If only the statement under Article 19(1) PCT is not available in an official language, only that document will be disregarded. If the translation of the accompanying letter under Rule 46.5(b) PCT is not filed in time, the EPO will disregard that letter and may proceed under Rule 137(4) EPC where applicable.

–any published request for rectification 

–any sequence listing unless the text in the sequence listing is already available to the EPO in English (see point 5.6.010); if text matter in a sequence listing must be translated, the complete sequence listing complying with WIPO Standard ST.25 (for applications filed before 1 July 2022) or WIPO Standard ST.26 (for applications filed on or after 1 July 2022),⁶⁷ including the translated text matter, must be submitted. Where WIPO Standard ST.26 applies, a translation needs to be filed only if the ʺlanguage-dependentʺ free-text qualifiers are not available in English or in the EPO official language in which the international application was published. For further details, see OJ EPO 2021, A97, paragraphs 29-32.

–any separately furnished references to deposited biological material (Form 1200, Section 8). 

5.5.012In addition, if the EPO acts as elected Office, translations of any annexes to the international preliminary examination report (IPER) must always be furnished, i.e. including any accompanying letter under Rule 66.8(a) or (b) PCT indicating the basis for the amendments in the application as filed. Such translations must be filed regardless of whether protection is sought for the same version of the application documents as was the subject of the IPER. Therefore, a translation of any amendments made under Article 19 PCT (and the accompanying letter under Rule 46.5(b) PCT, if annexed to the IPER) must also always be filed if such amendments are annexed to the IPER.

5.5.014If a translation must be filed, it has to be a translation of the application as published by the IB. This means that, where the international publication contains both erroneously filed application documents and correct application documents incorporated under Rule 20.6 PCT in conjunction with Rule 20.5bis(d) PCT (see point 5.13.026 ff), the translation to be filed on entry into the European phase under Rule 159(1)(a) EPC must likewise contain both the erroneously filed and the correct application documents, regardless of whether the further proceedings before the EPO will be based on the erroneously filed ones or on the correct ones. In order to distinguish the two sets of application documents for the purposes of publication under Article 153(4) EPC and the further proceedings before the EPO, the applicant must clearly indicate which pages of the translation make up the correct application documents and which make up the erroneously filed ones.