Article 5 Filing Date

Except as otherwise prescribed in the Regulations, and subject to paragraphs 2 to 8, a Contracting Party shall provide that the filing date of an application shall be the date on which its Office has received all of the following elements, filed, at the option of the applicant, on paper or as otherwise permitted by the Office for the purposes of the filing date:

A Contracting Party may, for the purposes of the filing date, accept a drawing as the element referred to in subparagraph a)(iii).

For the purposes of the filing date, a Contracting Party may require both information allowing the identity of the applicant to be established and information allowing the applicant to be contacted by the Office, or it may accept evidence allowing the identity of the applicant to be established or allowing the applicant to be contacted by the Office, as the element referred to in subparagraph a)(ii).

A Contracting Party may require that the indications referred to in paragraph 1a)(i) and (ii) be in a language accepted by the Office.

The part referred to in paragraph 1a)(iii) may, for the purposes of the filing date, be filed in any language.

Where one or more of the requirements applied by the Contracting Party under paragraphs 1 and 2 are not complied with in the application as initially filed, the filing date shall, subject to subparagraph b) and paragraph 6, be the date on which all of the requirements applied by the Contracting Party under paragraphs 1 and 2 are subsequently complied with.

A Contracting Party may provide that, where one or more of the requirements referred to in subparagraph a are not complied with within the time limit prescribed in the Regulations, the application shall be deemed not to have been filed. Where the application is deemed not to have been filed, the Office shall notify the applicant accordingly, indicating the reasons therefor.

Where a missing part of the description or a missing drawing is filed with the Office within the time limit prescribed in the Regulations, that part of the description or drawing shall be included in the application, and, subject to subparagraphs b) and c), the filing date shall be the date on which the Office has received that part of the description or that drawing, or the date on which all of the requirements applied by the Contracting Party under paragraphs 1 and 2 are complied with, whichever is later.

Where the missing part of the description or the missing drawing is filed under subparagraph a) to rectify its omission from an application which, at the date on which one or more elements referred to in paragraph 1a) were first received by the Office, claims the priority of an earlier application, the filing date shall, upon the request of the applicant filed within a time limit prescribed in the Regulations, and subject to the requirements prescribed in the Regulations, be the date on which all the requirements applied by the Contracting Party under paragraphs 1 and 2 are complied with.

Subject to the requirements prescribed in the Regulations, a reference, made upon the filing of the application, in a language accepted by the Office, to a previously filed application shall, for the purposes of the filing date of the application, replace the description and any drawings.

Where the requirements referred to in subparagraph a are not complied with, the application may be deemed not to have been filed. Where the application is deemed not to have been filed, the Office shall notify the applicant accordingly, indicating the reasons therefor.