5. Invitation under both Rule 62a(1) and Rule 63(1)

It is sometimes necessary to send an invitation under both Rule 63 (see B‑VIII, 3.1) and Rule 62a(1) (see B‑VIII, 4.1), for example where clarifying which claim or claims to search under Rule 62a will not necessarily help to clarify what subject-matter to search, because the application contains several independent claims in the same category and none or only some of them can be meaningfully searched over their whole scope. The invitations under Rule 62a(1) and Rule 63(1) are then sent jointly in a single communication setting the same two-month time limit for replying under both rules. Applicants wishing to reply to both invitations should do so at the same time.

The independent claims indicated in reply to the invitation under Rule 62a(1) and the subject-matter indicated in reply to the invitation under Rule 63(1) must be compatible. If the applicant's indications are incompatible, the search division can choose, depending on the circumstances, either (i) to search the claims indicated by the applicant under Rule 62a(1) and, where necessary, limit the subject-matter searched for those claims by applying Rule 63(2) by analogy or (ii) to search that subject-matter defined in the first independent claim in a particular category which is compatible with the subject-matter indicated by the applicant under Rule 63(1) by applying Rule 62a(1), last sentence, by analogy.

Although sent in the same communication, the invitations under Rule 62a(1) and Rule 63(1) are still legally separate. Applicants are therefore free to reply to only one of them. If they reply only to the Rule 62a(1) invitation, option (i) above applies. If they reply only to the Rule 63(1) invitation, option (ii) above applies.