When the claims of the international application do not relate to one invention only, or to a group of inventions so linked as to form a single general inventive concept, the applicant will normally be invited to pay additional search fees. If the applicant does not pay any additional search fees in response to the invitation, the international search will normally be restricted to those parts that relate to the invention, or so linked group of inventions, first mentioned in the claims.

GL-PCT B III 2.11 Nucleotide and amino acid sequences

If, after an invitation from the EPO as ISA according to Rule 13ter.1, the applicant has not submitted the sequence listing in the required electronic form and text format and paid the late furnishing fee within the time limit set, the EPO as ISA will carry out the international search without the sequence listing to the extent that a meaningful search can be carried out (see also GL/PCT‑EPO B‑VIII, 3.2).[Rule 5.2;

GL-PCT B III 2.10 Subject‑matter excluded from search

The examiner may exclude certain subject-matter from the search. These exclusions may result from the international application including subject-matter which the EPO as ISA is not required to deal with (see GL/PCT‑EPO B‑VIII, 2).