London Agreement To Enter Into Force In May
The London Agreement is due to come into force later this year, after France deposited
the instrument of ratification with the German Ministry of Justice on 29 January.
The agreement, which will enter into force on 1 May - the first day of the
fourth month following the deposit of the instrument - will make patenting in
Europe cheaper by reducing post-grant translation costs. The London Agreement was concluded in London on 17 October 2000 with the aim
of creating a cost attractive post-grant translation regime for European patents. The Parties to the Agreement undertake to waive, entirely or largely, the requirement
for translations of European patents to be filed in their national language.
This means in practice that European patent proprietors will no longer have
to file a translation of the specification for patents granted for an EPC Contracting
State Party to the London Agreement and having one of the three EPO languages
as an official language. Where this is not the case, they will be required to submit a full translation
of the specification in the national language only if the patent is not available
in the EPO language designated by the country concerned. This change is expected to benefit small and medium-sized enterprises in particular. .
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