10. Sufficiency of disclosure and Rule 20.5(e) or Rule 20.5bis(e)

The application may contain sheets stamped "Not to be considered (R. 20.5(e), R. 20.5bis(e) or 20.7)". This means that these sheets were not allowed by the receiving Office (for formal or substantive reasons) or that the applicant has withdrawn those parts or elements in order to avoid re-dating of the application. Such sheets thus do not form part of the application documents and should be ignored for search and examination.

In this case, the examiner must carefully evaluate whether the invention is still sufficiently disclosed without relying on the technical information contained in the withdrawn parts or elements. Should the examiner reach the conclusion that the requirements of Art. 5 are not satisfied, a corresponding objection is raised. See also GL/PCT‑EPO F‑III, 3 to GL/PCT‑EPO F-III, 5.