90bis.1 Withdrawal of the
International Application
(a)
The applicant may withdraw the international
application at any time prior to the expiration
of 30 months from the priority date.
(b)
Withdrawal shall be effective on receipt of a
notice addressed by the applicant, at his option,
to the International Bureau, to the receiving
Office or, where Article 39(1)
applies, to the International Preliminary
Examining Authority.
(c)
No international publication of the international
application shall be effected if the notice of
withdrawal sent by the applicant or transmitted
by the receiving Office or the International
Preliminary Examining Authority reaches the
International Bureau before the technical
preparations for international publication have
been completed.
90bis.2 Withdrawal of
Designations
(a)
The applicant may withdraw the designation of any
designated State at any time prior to the
expiration of 30 months from the priority date.
Withdrawal of the designation of a State which
has been elected shall entail withdrawal of the
corresponding election under Rule 90bis.4.
(b)
Where a State has been designated for the purpose
of obtaining both a national patent and a
regional patent, withdrawal of the designation of
that State shall be taken to mean withdrawal of
only the designation for the purpose of obtaining
a national patent, except where otherwise
indicated.
(c)
Withdrawal of the designations of all designated
States shall be treated as withdrawal of the
international application under Rule 90bis.1.
(d)
Withdrawal shall be effective on receipt of a
notice addressed by the applicant, at his option,
to the International Bureau, to the receiving
Office or, where Article 39(1)
applies, to the International Preliminary
Examining Authority.
(e)
No international publication of the designation
shall be effected if the notice of withdrawal
sent by the applicant or transmitted by the
receiving Office or the International Preliminary
Examining Authority reaches the International
Bureau before the technical preparations for
international publication have been completed.
90bis.3 Withdrawal of Priority
Claims
(a)
The applicant may withdraw a priority claim, made
in the international application under Article 8(1), at
any time prior to the expiration of 30 months
from the priority date.
(b)
Where the international application contains more
than one priority claim, the applicant may
exercise the right provided for in paragraph (a) in respect of one
or more or all of the priority claims.
(c)
Withdrawal shall be effective on receipt of a
notice addressed by the applicant, at his option,
to the International Bureau, to the receiving
Office or, where Article 39(1)
applies, to the International Preliminary
Examining Authority.
(d)
Where the withdrawal of a priority claim causes a
change in the priority date, any time limit which
is computed from the original priority date and
which has not already expired shall, subject to
paragraph (e), be
computed from the priority date resulting from
that change.
(e)
In the case of the time limit referred to in Article
21(2)(a), the International Bureau may
nevertheless proceed with the international
publication on the basis of the said time limit
as computed from the original priority date if
the notice of withdrawal sent by the applicant or
transmitted by the receiving Office or the
International Preliminary Examining Authority
reaches the International Bureau after the
completion of the technical preparations for
international publication.
90bis.4 Withdrawal of the
Demand, or of Elections
(a)
The applicant may withdraw the demand or any or
all elections at any time prior to the expiration
of 30 months from the priority date.
(b)
Withdrawal shall be effective upon receipt of a
notice addressed by the applicant to the
International Bureau.
(c)
If the notice of withdrawal is submitted by the
applicant to the International Preliminary
Examining Authority, that Authority shall mark
the date of receipt on the notice and transmit it
promptly to the International Bureau. The notice
shall be considered to have been submitted to the
International Bureau on the date marked.
90bis.5 Signature
(a)
Any notice of withdrawal referred to in Rules 90bis.1 to 90bis.4 shall, subject to paragraph (b), be signed
by the applicant. Where one of the applicants is
considered to be the common representative under
Rule
90.2(b), such notice shall, subject to paragraph (b), require the
signature of all the applicants.
(b)
Where two or more applicants file an
international application which designates a
State whose national law requires that national
applications be filed by the inventor and where
an applicant for that designated State who is an
inventor could not be found or reached after
diligent effort, a notice of withdrawal referred
to in Rules 90bis.1 to 90bis.4 need not be signed
by that applicant ("the applicant concerned") if
it is signed by at least one applicant and
(i)
a statement is furnished explaining, to the
satisfaction of the receiving Office, the
International Bureau or the International
Preliminary Examining Authority, as the case may
be, the lack of signature of the applicant
concerned, or
(ii)
in the case of a notice of withdrawal referred to
in Rule 90bis.1(b), 90bis.2(d) or 90bis.3(c), the applicant
concerned did not sign the request but the
requirements of Rule 4.15(b) were
complied with, or
(iii)
in the case of a notice of withdrawal referred to
in Rule 90bis.4(b), the
applicant concerned did not sign the demand but
the requirements of Rule 53.8(b) were
complied with, or did not sign the later election
concerned but the requirements of Rule 56.1(c) were
complied with.
90bis.6 Effect of
Withdrawal
(a)
Withdrawal under Rule 90bis
of the international application, any
designation, any priority claim, the demand or
any election shall have no effect in any
designated or elected Office where the processing
or examination of the international application
has already started under Article 23(2) or
Article
40(2).
(b)
Where the international application is withdrawn
under Rule 90bis.1, the
international processing of the international
application shall be discontinued.
(c)
Where the demand or all elections are withdrawn
under Rule 90bis.4, the
processing of the international application by
the International Preliminary Examining Authority
shall be discontinued.
Any Contracting State whose national law provides
for what is described in the second part of Article
37(4)(b) shall notify the International
Bureau in writing.
(b)
The notification referred to in paragraph (a) shall be promptly
published by the International Bureau in the
Gazette, and shall have effect in respect of
international applications filed more than one
month after the date of such publication.