4.2 Consequences of a declaration of no search or an incomplete search in subsequent European procedure 

For unsearched subject-matter, no written opinion is established under PCT Chapter I and no examination is carried out under PCT Chapter II. Furthermore, there is no possibility to appeal the decision of the ISA (see GL/PCT‑EPO C‑IV, 4.1), so that even if the applicant were to succeed in convincing the examiner under Chapter II that the decision not to search certain subject-matter was incorrect, this has no consequences. However, in the European procedure the examining division must review the decision of the search division (examiner) and take a final decision. This implies that in the European phase for the Euro-PCT application the examiner might have to reverse the decision of the ISA and perform a complete search (either because of the arguments filed or because of the claims having been redrafted so that a search can now be performed, see also GL/EPO C‑IV, 7.3).