Article 56 of the Patent Cooperation Treaty

WIPO

INTERNATIONAL TREATIES

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)

WOPCT

58/71

Article 56

Committee for Technical Cooperation

(1)

The Assembly shall establish a Committee for Technical Cooperation (referred to in this Article as "the Committee").

(2) (a) The Assembly shall determine the composition of the Committee and appoint its members, with due regard to an equitable representation of developing countries.

(b) The International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authorities shall be ex officio members of the Committee. In the case where such an Authority is the national Office of a Contracting State, that State shall not be additionally represented on the Committee.

(c) If the number of Contracting States so allows, the total number of members of the Committee shall be more than double the number of ex officio members.

(d) The Director General shall, on his own initiative or at the request of the Committee, invite representatives of interested organizations to participate in discussions of interest to them.

(3)

The aim of the Committee shall be to contribute, by advice and recommendations:

(i)

to the constant improvement of the services provided for under this Treaty,

(ii)

to the securing, so long as there are several International Searching Authorities and several International Preliminary Examining Authorities, of the maximum degree of uniformity in their documentation and working methods and the maximum degree of uniformly high quality in their reports, and

(iii)

on the initiative of the Assembly or the Executive Committee, to the solution of the technical problems specifically involved in the establishment of a single International Searching Authority.

(4)

Any Contracting State and any interested international organization may approach the Committee in writing on questions which fall within the competence of the Committee.

(5)

The Committee may address its advice and recommendations to the Director General or, through him, to the Assembly, the Executive Committee, all or some of the International Searching and Preliminary Examining Authorities, and all or some of the receiving Offices.

(6) (a) In any case, the Director General shall transmit to the Executive Committee the texts of all the advice and recommendations of the Committee. He may comment on such texts.

(b) The Executive Committee may express its views on any advice, recommendation, or other activity of the Committee, and may invite the Committee to study and report on questions falling within its competence. The Executive Committee may submit to the Assembly, with appropriate comments, the advice, recommendations and report of the Committee.

(7)

Until the Executive Committee has been established, references in paragraph (6) to the Executive Committee shall be construed as references to the Assembly.

(8)

The details of the procedure of the Committee shall be governed by the decisions of the Assembly.