Rule 2

1. [Time Limits Under Article 5(3) and (4)b)] Subject to paragraph 2, the time limits referred to in Article 5(3) and (4)b) shall be not less than two months from the date of the notification referred to in Article 5(3).

2. [Exception to Time Limit Under Article 5(4)b)] Where a notification under Article 5(3) has not been made because indications allowing the applicant to be contacted by the Office have not been filed, the time limit referred to in Article 5(4)b) shall be not less than two months from the date on which one or more elements referred to in Article 5(1)(a) were first received by the Office.

3. [Time Limits Under Article 5(6)a) and b)] The time limits referred to in Article 5(6)a) and b) shall be:
(i) where a notification has been made under Article 5(5), not less than two months from the date of the notification;
(ii) where a notification has not been made, not less than two months from the date on which one or more elements referred to in Article 5(1)a) were first received by the Office.

4. [Requirements Under Article 5(6)b)]Any Contracting Party may, subject to Rule 4(3), require that, for the filing date to be determined under Article 5(6)b):
(i) a copy of the earlier application be filed within the time limit applicable under paragraph 3;
(ii) a copy of the earlier application, and the date of filing of the earlier application, certified as correct by the Office with which the earlier application was filed, be filed upon invitation by the Office, within a time limit which shall be not less than four months from the date of that invitation, or the time limit applicable under Rule 4(1), whichever expires earlier;
(iii) where the earlier application is not in a language accepted by the Office, a translation of the earlier application be filed within the time limit applicable under paragraph 3;
(iv) the missing part of the description or missing drawing be completely contained in the earlier application;
(v) the application, at the date on which one or more elements referred to in Article 5(1)a) were first received by the Office, contained an indication that the contents of the earlier application were incorporated by reference in the application;
(vi) an indication be filed within the time limit applicable under paragraph 3 as to where, in the earlier application or in the translation referred to in item (iii), the missing part of the description or the missing drawing is contained.

5. [Requirements Under Article 5(7)a)]
a) The reference to the previously filed application referred to in Article 5(7)a) shall indicate that, for the purposes of the filing date, the description and any drawings are replaced by the reference to the previously filed application; the reference shall also indicate the number of that application, and the Office with which that application was filed. A Contracting Party may require that the reference also indicate the filing date of the previously filed application.
b) A Contracting Party may, subject to Rule 4(3), require that:
(i) a copy of the previously filed application and, where the previously filed application is not in a language accepted by the Office, a translation of that previously filed application, be filed with the Office within a time limit which shall be not less than two months from the date on which the application containing the reference referred to in Article 5(7)a) was received by the Office;
(ii) a certified copy of the previously filed application be filed with the Office within a time limit which shall be not less than four months from the date of the receipt of the application containing the reference referred to in Article 5(7)a).
c) A Contracting Party may require that the reference referred to in Article 5(7)a) be to a previously filed application that had been filed by the applicant or his predecessor or successor in title.

6. [Exceptions Under Article 5(8)(ii)] The types of applications referred to in Article 5(8)(ii) shall be:
(i) divisional applications;
(ii) applications for continuation or continuation-in-part;
(iii) applications by new applicants determined to be entitled to an invention contained in an earlier application.