2.1 Procedure when the EPO was not the ISA 

Where the ISR and WO‑ISA were established by another European International Searching Authority (at present SE, ES, AT, FI, TR, NPI (XN) and VPI (XV)), the WO‑ISA is not considered as the first written opinion for the procedure under Chapter II PCT and the examiner will examine the file, taking into account the WO‑ISA and any reply from the applicant on file. If there are objections as to novelty, inventive step and/or industrial applicability, the examiner will send a WO-IPEA with a time limit for the applicant to reply as laid down in Rule 66.2(d), which is normally two months.

If, despite the applicant's timely and substantive reply (in the form of amendments and/or arguments) to this WO-IPEA, there are still objections outstanding, possibly resulting from the top-up search in Chapter II (see GL/PCT‑EPO C‑IV, 5), a further written opinion or telephone minutes are issued as set out under GL/PCT‑EPO C‑IV, 2.2.