London Agreement to Come into Force
November 2007
On 9 October 2007 the French Senate approved the law authorising France’s ratification of the London Agreement concerning national translation of European patents. France is expected to ratify the London Agreement in the next few months.
This is a significant development in the current political efforts to streamline the patent granting and enforcement procedures in Europe, as the London Agreement will come into force four months after the French instrument of ratification has been deposited.
European patent proprietors will not need to file any translation in a London Agreement country that has English, French or German as a national language, and the translation requirement in the other London Agreement countries will be completely or substantially reduced.
For English-language applicants, therefore, 2008 will certainly see the list of countries, for which no post-grant translation work is required, grow to at least: the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Switzerland/Liechtenstein, Ireland, Monaco, Luxembourg and Malta.
In addition, we expect that the following countries will also be on this list: the Netherlands, Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Slovenia and Sweden. However, it is possible that local translations of the claims may be required in some or all of these countries.
We see it as inevitable that many other EPC Contracting States will become parties to the London Agreement in the coming years, further reducing the costs of bringing European patents into effect.
Developments will be reported in future Newsletters. In the meantime, your regular contact at Haseltine Lake will be pleased to advise on whether it may be be possible to delay grant of any pending application until after the London Agreement has come into force.
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