Regulations under the PCT

Rule 80
Computation of Time Limits

 

80.1       Periods Expressed in Years
 

        When a period is expressed as one year or a certain number of years, computation shall start on the day following the day on which the relevant event occurred, and the period shall expire in the relevant subsequent year in the month having the same name and on the day having the same number as the month and the day on which the said event occurred, provided that if the relevant subsequent month has no day with the same number the period shall expire on the last day of that month.
 

80.2       Periods Expressed in Months
 

        When a period is expressed as one month or a certain number of months, computation shall start on the day following the day on which the relevant event occurred, and the period shall expire in the relevant subsequent month on the day which has the same number as the day on which the said event occurred, provided that if the relevant subsequent month has no day with the same number the period shall expire on the last day of that month.
 

80.3       Periods Expressed in Days
 

        When a period is expressed as a certain number of days, computation shall start on the day following the day on which the relevant event occurred, and the period shall expire on the day on which the last day of the count has been reached.
 

80.4       Local Dates
 
  (a)
  The date which is taken into consideration as the starting date of the computation of any period shall be the date which prevails in the locality at the time when the relevant event occurred.
 
  (b)
  The date on which any period expires shall be the date which prevails in the locality in which the required document must be filed or the required fee must be paid.
 

80.5       Expiration on a Non-Working Day or Official Holiday
 

        If the expiration of any period during which any document or fee must reach a national Office or intergovernmental organization falls on a day:
 
  (i)
  on which such Office or organization is not open to the public for the purposes of the transaction of official business;
 
  (ii)
  on which ordinary mail is not delivered in the locality in which such Office or organization is situated;
 
  (iii)
  which, where such Office or organization is situated in more than one locality, is an official holiday in at least one of the localities in which such Office or organization is situated, and in circumstances where the national law applicable by that Office or organization provides, in respect of national applications, that, in such a case, such period shall expire on a subsequent day; or
 
  (iv)
 

which, where such Office is the government authority of a Contracting State entrusted with the granting of patents, is an official holiday in part of that Contracting State, and in circumstances where the national law applicable by that Office provides, in respect of national applications, that, in such a case, such period shall expire on a subsequent day;
 

the period shall expire on the next subsequent day on which none of the said four circumstances exists.
 

80.6       Date of Documents
 

        Where a period starts on the day of the date of a document or letter emanating from a national Office or intergovernmental organization, any interested party may prove that the said document or letter was mailed on a day later than the date it bears, in which case the date of actual mailing shall, for the purposes of computing the period, be considered to be the date on which the period starts. Irrespective of the date on which such a document or letter was mailed, if the applicant offers to the national Office or intergovernmental organization evidence which satisfies the national Office or intergovernmental organization that the document or letter was received more than seven days after the date it bears, the national Office or intergovernmental organization shall treat the period starting from the date of the document or letter as expiring later by an additional number of days which is equal to the number of days which the document or letter was received later than seven days after the date it bears.
 

80.7       End of Working Day
 
  (a)
  A period expiring on a given day shall expire at the moment the national Office or intergovernmental organization with which the document must be filed or to which the fee must be paid closes for business on that day.
 
  (b)
  Any Office or organization may depart from the provisions of paragraph (a) up to midnight on the relevant day.
 
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