The International Bureau has provided a rich feature set in the DOCX converter embedded into ePCT. It is necessary to ensure that users find it clear and easy to use, and that simple arrangements exist for handling post‑filing changes, including corrections, rectifications and amendments.
At the time of filing, it is necessary to consider whether the conversion tool provides easy access to all the functionality required. At present, the main risks are considered to lie in issues concerning alignment of text:
- WIPO Standard ST.36 does not generally allow for the use of tabs and spaces to align text – paragraphs usually need to be written as a simple flow of text, without any expectation of line breaks occurring at a particular point or text on one line aligning reliably with related text immediately above or below. The standard does allow an element <pre> to denote “pre‑formatted text”, which is represented using a fixed width font, such as Courier, and maintains all spaces, which can be important for the representation of computer code or sections of nucleotide sequences. However, at present there is no way to trigger the use of this element from a DOCX file.
- The main form of text alignment is through tables. The XML table structure is fairly rich, including merged cells and column width information, but text alignment is lost. Further, the fact that all text is rendered in the same font at the same size means that in some cases it is difficult to fit the required information into the available space. Consequently, in some cases, it is more practical to provide large or complex tables in image form.
The Task Force is requested to identify and prioritize other significant limitations in conversion capabilities.