(a) Response period. Upon receipt of a notice of irregularities in an international application from the International Bureau, the applicant must respond to the International Bureau within the period set forth in the notice.

(b) Classification and Identification of Goods and Services. Responses to International Bureau notices of irregularities in the classification or identification of goods or services in an international application must be submitted through the Office for forwarding to the International Bureau. The Office will review an applicant's response to a notice of irregularities in the identification of goods or services to ensure that the response does not identify goods or services that are broader than the scope of the goods or services in the basic application or registration.

(c) Fees. If the International Bureau notice of irregularities requires the payment of fees, the fees for correcting irregularities in the international application must be paid directly to the International Bureau.

(d) Other Irregularities Requiring Response from Applicant. Except for responses to irregularities mentioned in paragraph (b) of this section and payment of fees for correcting irregularities mentioned in paragraph (c) of this section, all other responses may be submitted through the Office in accordance with §7.14(e), or filed directly at the International Bureau. The Office will forward timely responses to the International Bureau, but will not review the responses or respond to any irregularities on behalf of the international applicant.

(e) Procedure for response. To be considered timely, a response must be received by the International Bureau before the end of the response period set forth in the International Bureau's notice. Receipt in the Office does not fulfill this requirement. Any response submitted through the Office for forwarding to the International Bureau should be submitted as soon as possible, but at least one month before the end of the response period in the International Bureau's notice. The Office will not process any response received in the Office after the International Bureau's response deadline.

[68 FR 55769, Sept. 26, 2003, as amended at 69 FR 57186, Sept. 24, 2004; 73 FR 67776, Nov. 17, 2008]