PCT Rule 13 — Unity of Invention (MPEP Coverage Index) – BlueIron IP
PCT Rule 13 Unity of Invention
This page consolidates MPEP guidance interpreting PCT Rule 13, including 74 rules from the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only, it is not legal advice.
Summary
This section addresses the requirement to include indications of deposited biological material in international applications, as governed by PCT Rule 13 bis.3(a), and ensures that dependent claims must contain all features of their independent claim.
What this section covers
- Practitioners must ensure that any indication of deposited biological material is included in the application as filed, subject to certain exceptions.
- Dependent claims must contain all the features of their independent claim, regardless of whether the process for preparation is novel and inventive.
Key obligations
- Drafters should ensure that all necessary indications of deposited biological material are included in the application as filed, to avoid objections under PCT Rule 13.
- It is crucial for dependent claims to include all features of the independent claim, as failure to do so may lead to objections under PCT Rule 13.
Official MPEP § 13 — Unity of Invention
Source: USPTOLast Modified: 10/30/2024 08:50:22
Rule 13 Unity of Invention
13.1 Requirement
The international application shall relate to one invention only or to a group of inventions so linked as to form a single general inventive concept (“requirement of unity of invention”).
13.2 Circumstances in Which the Requirement of Unity of Invention Is to Be Considered Fulfilled
Where a group of inventions is claimed in one and the same international application, the requirement of unity of invention referred to in Rule 13.1 shall be fulfilled only when there is a technical relationship among those inventions involving one or more of the same or corresponding special technical features. The expression “special technical features” shall mean those technical features that define a contribution which each of the claimed inventions, considered as a whole, makes over the prior art.
13.3 Determination of Unity of Invention Not Affected by Manner of Claiming
The determination whether a group of inventions is so linked as to form a single general inventive concept shall be made without regard to whether the inventions are claimed in separate claims or as alternatives within a single claim.
13.4 Dependent Claims
Subject to Rule 13.1 , it shall be permitted to include in the same international application a reasonable number of dependent claims, claiming specific forms of the invention claimed in an independent claim, even where the features of any dependent claim could be considered as constituting in themselves an invention.
13.5 Utility Models
Any designated State in which the grant of a utility model is sought on the basis of an international application may, instead of Rules 13.1 to 13.4 , apply in respect of the matters regulated in those Rules the provisions of its national law concerning utility models once the processing of the international application has started in that State, provided that the applicant shall be allowed at least two months from the expiration of the time limit applicable under Article 22 to adapt his application to the requirements of the said provisions of the national law.
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