§ 13.20. The Office as Elected Office The Office shall act as an elected office in respect of an international application in which Liberia is designated as referred to in Section 13.18 of this Section if the applicant files a demand for the purposes of international preliminary examination under Section 13.14 of the Patent Cooperation Treaty. § 13.21. Processing International Applications The Office as designated office or elected office shall not commence processing of an international application designating Liberia before the expiration of the time limit referred to in Section 13.22 except if the applicant complies with the requirements of that subsection and files with the Office an express request for early commencement of such processing. § 13.22. Entering National Phase The applicant shall, in respect of an international application designating Liberia and before the expiration of the time limit applicable under Article 22(1) or 39(1)(a) of the Patent Cooperation Treaty or of such later time limit as may be specified in the regulations to this Act, pay the national fee to the Office and file with the Office a translation of the international application into English if the international application was not filed in, and has not been published under the Patent Cooperation Treaty as a translation into English. §13.23. Failure to Enter National Phase If the applicant does not comply with the requirements of Section 13.21 of this Act within the time limit referred to in that subsection, the international application shall be considered withdrawn for purposes of this Act. §13.24. Reinstatement of Rights After Failure to Enter National Phase a) Where the international application is considered withdrawn under Section 13.22 of this Act, the Office shall, upon request of the applicant in accordance with the regulations to this Act, reinstate the rights of the applicant with respect to that international application if it finds that the failure to meet the time limit referred to in Section 13.8 of this Act occurred in spite of due care required by the circumstances having been taken. b) The Office shall not refuse a request for reinstatement of rights without giving the applicant the opportunity to make observations on the intended refusal within a time limit, which shall not be less than three months counted from the date of notification. 79