"[1] This legal provision is the application, within the European Patent Convention, of the requirement of unity of invention, which also applies also in other jurisdictions.
[2] The lack of unity or non-unity (of invention) can appear either a priori, i.e., before taking into account the prior art, or a posteriori, i.e., after taking into account the prior art.
[5] Under new Rule 64 EPC, in force as of April 1, 2010,[6] the time limit for the further search fees is now two months.
[7] Responsibility for establishing whether or not a European patent application meets the requirements of unity of invention ultimately rests with the examining division.
"[10] Under the former version of Rule 36 EPC, an objection of lack of unity of invention raised in a communication of the Examining Division could trigger a 24-month period for filing a divisional application, if the particular objection was raised for the first time.