London Agreement to Reduce Patent Costs in Europe
Following the decision by the French Senate on 18 October 2007 to ratify the London Agreement, businesses are anticipating substantially reduced costs for patenting in Europe.
Under the system set up when the European Patent Office (EPO) in the 1970's a patent application is filed at the EPO in one of the three official languages (English, French & German). After grant of the patent it is necessary to provide a translation of the entire patent specification into the language of each European country where patent protection is desired. With up to 22 official languages, the translation costs can be substantial and deter businesses from patenting widely in Europe.
The London Agreement was established in 2000 to reduce translation costs in participating countries. To enter into force the Agreement must be ratified by at least eight Contracting States including the UK, France and Germany.
Under the London Agreement, any participating state which has one of the three EPO languages as an official language cannot require the patentee to provide a translation of the European Patent.
Any participating state which does not have one of the three EPO languages as an official language will elect one of those three languages. A patent granted in the elected language will not need to have its description translated, although a translation of the claims into a local language may be required. Since English is the international language of business and science, most such states are expected to elect English as their preferred EPO language. Denmark and Sweden are two such states which have elected English as their EPO language.
To date, 11 countries have signed the Agreement: Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Monaco, Slovenia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK.
The Agreement will come into effect four months after France deposits its instrument of ratification with the EPO. This is expected to happen early next year so that the London Agreement should come into force for European Patents granted by late spring or summer of 2008.
Further discussion of the London Agreement is here.
Dummett Copp
October 2007